Archive for the ‘Google’ Category

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Why your business needs to be on Google+

May 8th, 2013 posted by Alicia Lawrence 12:08PM | View Full Story

Google+If you’ve been on Google+ you know it’s a better SEO tool than social network. Google integrated many factors into their social platform that play a role in their search engine algorithm. Vic Gundotra, the Senior VP at Google, explained that Google+ is “the unification of all of Google’s services, with a common social layer.” Once again, Google has changed the face of social networks and their influence on rankings.

Companies need to understand how Google+ affects their rankings in Google’s search engine. Since Google seems to give preference to their properties in their SERPs (search engine results pages), it’s vital for companies to create a Google+ business page. Are you still asking “Should my business be on Google+?” Here’s a look at the reasons Google+ is far more than a social network and why your business should be actively using the platform.

1. Local SEO

You can’t have effective local SEO without a Google+ business page. The only way to get into local rankings in Google’s SERPs is through Google + or Google Places. (Google is currently working on integrating Google Places into Google+.) Don’t just create a page and leave it. Learn how to optimize your Google+ to get better local rankings.

2. Google+ Reviews

Google+ creates the perfect opportunity to ask customers who are already fans of your company to write a review on your Google+ profile.  The best part is that these reviews can be accessed directly from a search results page in Google. When potential customers search a relative term to your business (i.e. beauty salon) Google will show a list of local companies, their contact info, and any reviews they have on Google+ or their Google Places page.

3. Rel=author

Google recently created two new tags, rel=author and rel=publisher, that connect your article back to your Google+ profile. You can create this connection by including a snippet of HTML to your pages and adding your website under your contributor page in Google+. Rel=publisher is similar to rel=author except that it is specifically designed for brands to integrate their Google+ page into search result pages for their brand name. Connecting your articles to your Google+ will likely increase the amount of clicks on your listings. Plus, you get to put your smiling face next to your article in the SERPs.

Below is the HTML code to include at the bottom of all your articles for rel=author. Change the “Your Unique Google+ID” to the numbers that show in your Google+ profile URL and designate what anchor text you wish to display.

<a href=https://plus.google.com/u/0/YourUniqueGoogle+ID?rel=author>Your Byline Here</a>

4. SEO benefits of +1

Google is watching you

Google’s +1 is a powerful “like” button that DOES play a role in the SERPs. Overall, SEOs are seeing social signals increase in importance in search engine rankings. Specifically, we have identified two ways +1s affect rankings in Google. The first is a real-time jump in the SERPs when a particular article or page has a high number of +1s. The high Google ranking is temporary depending on how often and how many +1s it continues to receive. The second effect we see is called a filter bubble. Depending on what you and others in your circles +1 will determine what shows up in your personal search results. Google+ creates a virtual bubble around your social interactions to personalize your SERPs. These social factors in rankings might play a critical role in Google Analytics’ (not provided).

If you aren’t active on Google+, you are missing out on many great benefits for your website. Your Google+ presence will help drive more traffic to your site, increase organic search engine rankings and, ultimately, make more money for your business.

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Posted in Google, Search Engine Optimization No Comments »

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Ctrl F it: Making Google Work for You

January 16th, 2013 posted by Michele 12:08PM | View Full Story

It’s no secret that humans are skimmers. Every high school student knows of Sparknotes and anytime research happens, the ‘Ctrl F’ function is certainly used. This quick skimming makes us more efficient and maximizes what we can do in a day…what if you could do the same for your clients?

Turns out, you can. With Google Alerts and Google Analytics Intelligence Alerts, you can essentially have Google skim the web and your client’s analytics so that your time is maximized and your internet marketing is awesome.

Google Alerts

Google Alerts are easy to set up and are a way to receive notifications about what’s happening online that may influence your client positively or negatively. Based on the info you put in to the alert setup, Google will mine the web for searches that match what you’re looking for and send you an email with the findings.

My top Google Alerts are:

  • brand name
  • backlinks
  • local news
  • industry news

To set these up, simply log in to your gmail and go to http://www.google.com/alerts. You’ll see

For nearly all my alerts, I keep the the last four boxes the same.

For ‘Results type,’ I want to know Everything.

For ‘How often’ I vary between the Once a day option and the As it Happens option; pick whichever one works best for you time management and workflow.

For ‘How many,’ I started my alerts with the All Results option but this can quickly get overwhelming. If you are getting too many notifications, selecting the option of Only the Best Results will still provide a plethora of knowledge.

  • Brand name alerts – these let you monitor when your client’s name is mentioned on the web. Use your client’s brand name as the ‘Search query.’ This is great when it comes to reaching out for link building, industry partnerships or staying on top of your client’s online brand appearance.


  • Backlinks alerts – these keep you on top of your client’s link profile on the web. Set these up by entering link:www.yourclientswebsite.com in the ‘Search query’ box.


  • Local news alerts – these alerts are great for local clients and can help you capitalize on timely, local happenings to benefit your client. Set these up by adding location:yourtargetlocation in the ‘Search query’ box along with any keywords for your client’s industry. You’ll also want to set the ‘Result Type’ to News.
  • Industry news alerts – these won’t work for all clients but if your client is in a competitive industry, these alerts work to let you know what’s new and going on with that industry. Add one of your keywords or products to the ‘Search query’ box, set the ‘Result Type’ to news and you’ll be alerted of the news for that keyword or product.

    The industry news alert is also a great way to help your client become an industry leader in a topic by reading and commenting on relevant blog posts. If you’re looking to get your client more involved with his industry’s online community, set this alert to have a question in the ‘Search query’ box; this will notify you when new discussions that are relevant to your client’s industry begin so you can contribute with helpful knowledge and facts.

Google Analytics Intelligence Alerts

I love these alerts! They are extremely useful for staying on top of all your client’s Google Analytics on a daily basis.

My top alerts in GA are:

  • Unusually high traffic
  • Unusually low traffic
  • Dead site
  • Dead PPC

Set these up by logging in to your Google Analytics account, go to the Admin tab then select ‘Custom Alert’s

Next, you’re going to want to decide when you want to be alerted. For my favorites I have:

  • Unusual high traffic and Unusual low traffic tracking ‘All Traffic’ to alert me when ‘Visits’ increase or decrease, respectively, by more than 20-50% when compared to the same day in the previous week. You can pick the percentage as you become more familiar with a client and also determine which timescale comparison makes the most sense for that site. The ‘Condition’ drop down gives you more options than just percentage changes too. This is a great way to track large traffic spikes or drops as they happen so you can analyze what caused the major change.


  • Dead site alerts me when ‘Visits’ of ‘All Traffic’ are less than 1, literally if the site is dead.


  • Dead PPC applies only to PPC traffic when visits are less than 1. For this, follow the screenshot below to capture all forms of paid traffic and use ^(cpc|ppc|cpm|cpv|cpa|cpp)$ as the input for ‘Value’:

Once you have the alerts that you like set up, you can apply them across profiles in your account. For example, my ‘Dead PPC’ alert is assigned to all my clients running PPC. You’ll get a daily email near the end of the day with the results of which profiles matched the alert conditions.

I hope that helps make your analyzing quicker and allows you to do more with less time by making Google do the majority of the hunting and alerting for you!

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Posted in Analytics, Google, Link Building, Pay Per Click, SEO 2 Comments »

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Using Automated Rules in Adwords: Better Prioritize Your Time Within Holiday Campaigns

December 19th, 2012 posted by Krystal Kenlan 12:08PM | View Full Story

Hanukkah came to a close on Sunday evening and Christmas and Kwanzaa are right around the corner. The malls are packed, shoppers are scrounging around for last minute deals and steals, and marketers are ready to give their holiday messages that final conclusive push.

In the world of online marketing, timing is king as companies follow suit of the most popular online shopping days in Q4 – a period where carefully crafted messages can either make or break the chance at a last minute sale before year’s end. Because the online medium provides companies and advertisers the ability to capture consumers at the heart of the buying process, oftentimes before they’re ready make a final decision, tailoring the message to their needs must be done with clear intention and extreme caution.

If your holiday marketing campaign includes tailoring messages through a PPC management in Google Adwords, allocating enough time to devote to maintaining and optimizing your account throughout the final week before the holiday rush can feel overwhelming and, oftentimes, impossible. Alas, in the spirit of holiday giving, the following tips provide a framework on utilizing an overlooked tool within the Adwords interface that can help you step away from the campaign and devote more time to enjoying the holidays with those you love.

So, What’s Automation?

Automated rules is a feature within the Adwords interface that gives you the ability to make changes to your account automatically, based on settings and campaign performance conditions that you choose. Automated rules can be set within the campaign, ad group, keywords, and ad text levels of your entire campaign, and provide versatility in delegating action upon tasks that are usually done manually by the advertiser. So before you sit back and wonder how in the world you’re going to get up at midnight to set a special promotion ad group to go live, worry no more – automation has got you covered!

bird say what

How to Set Up Automated Rules

Setting up automated rules within the Adwords interface is relatively straightforward and requires no more than 2 minutes of your time. The time you spend now to set up a couple automated rules within your campaign will inevitably save you 1-2 hours a week that you would have spent optimizing your PPC campaigns during the holidays, so it’s worth the investment!

To find the Automation settings in Adwords, click the Automate drop-down menu on the Campaigns, Ad groups, Ads, or Keywords tab.

ppc automation tab

Depending on the campaign level that you’re planning on implementing rules under, the options available for selection in the drop-down will be different:

  • Within the Campaign level, advertisers can make adjustments to the daily budget, campaign status, and receive email updates when an automated rule takes effect.
  • Within the Ad group level, advertisers can make adjustments to the max CPC, ad group status, and receive email updates when a rule takes effect.
  • Within the Ad text level, advertisers can make adjustments to the ad status and receive email updates when a rule takes effect.
  • Within the Keywords level, advertisers can make adjustments to the max CPC bids, raise bids to top of page CPC, raise bids to first page CPC, keyword status, and receive email updates when a rule takes effect.

When thinking about all of the changes you implement to your PPC campaign manually, it doesn’t seem so difficult to put together a comprehensive list of the work that automated rules can do for you.

The Meat and Potatoes of Automation

In order to help you better visualize how automation works, the examples below are good starting blocks to reducing the amount of manual tasks associated with your holiday PPC campaigns.


Schedule Ads for Holiday Specials/Events

Let’s say you plan to schedule ads for special promotions or events on Christmas Eve, arguably one of the largest shopping days of the holiday season, and have them end the day after Christmas. Instead of camping out next to your computer until the clock strikes midnight, how about you set up an automated rule for it and rest easy?

First, create the ads and keep them set to pause. Then set up two automated rules: one for the day the ads are set to go live on Christmas Eve and the other to pause the ads at midnight on December 27th.

To create these rules, go to All online campaigns within your Adwords dashboard, then click the Ads tab. Within the Automate drop-down, select Enable Ads When… and customize your campaign options closely mirroring the screenshot below.

ppc automation for promo

Next, create your second rule, this time following the options under the Pause Ads When… selection, and change the frequency to December 27th at midnight. And then you’re done! Your ads will run between midnight on Christmas Eve through midnight on December 27th.


Pause Campaigns that Spend Certain Budget Partway Through Month

Create a custom automated rule for campaigns to better track your spend throughout the busy periods of the month. For example, if you want to check the status on a campaign that is likely to exhaust its budget relatively quick into the month of December, run an automated rule to check the spend daily at 6 am and pause if it has spent over half the monthly budget, say $200.

To create this rule, go to All online campaigns and select the Campaigns tab. Within the Automate drop-down, select Pause Campaigns When… and tailor your options mirroring the example image below:

ppc automation for budgeting

Because this rule deals primarily with optimizing the campaign budget, it would be a good idea to set up an email alert to inform you if this rule has been triggered. That way, if and when you do receive notification, you can go into your campaign, better allocate your budget spend and re-enable the campaign for the rest of the month.


Pause Low-Performing Ads Based on Metrics

Because you’re advertising for the holiday season, shoppers want to see carefully crafted and attention grabbing ads that will make them want to convert. In turn, shoppers are happy because they can find what they’re looking for, and you’re happy because you made a sale. But not everyone is a literary genius when it comes to writing PPC ads that drive conversion; so if such is the case for you, no worries, there’s a rule for that, too!

If, for example, you’re looking to test out and pause any ads that don’t perform as desired within the holiday season, you can use a daily rule to look for ads with less than a 0.1% CTR and over 2,000 impressions in the last day.

To create this rule, go to All online campaigns in your Adwords account. Click the Ads tab, then select the Automate drop-down menu. Choose the Pause Ads When… option and customize your options to mirror the example below:

ppc automation for optimization

This rule helps better track your keyword/ad group/ad performance by honing in on the ads that aren’t driving significant traffic to your website. When you begin weeding out the low performers, you’re able to understand what phrases, products and calls to action don’t stack up to the needs of your target audience. Plus, it also greatly influences the overall CTR of the campaigns that are performing well.

Next, Try Advanced Automation Techniques

While the examples mentioned above cover very basic, yet important campaign optimization techniques, try researching online for tips setting up more advanced automation rules. Examples:

  • Raise bids for keywords below first page bid to ensure holiday ads are secured in the top positions;
  • Raise bids during high performance hours or days of the week; lower bids during low performance hours or days of the week; i.e., Raise bids by 25% on Christmas Eve to move ads to higher ad positions;
  • Change the max CPC keyword bids to control your average ad position of holiday ads.

The options are virtually endless when it comes to creating rules, so drive right into Automation and explore the many ways in which you can increase the level of control you have over your campaign.

Wrapping it Up

If automation is no longer applicable to your holiday PPC campaigns (either because they’ve run out or you haven’t set any up this year), consider the major takeaways from these tips and begin positioning yourself ahead of the competition for next December. Or better yet, start testing today. Automation certainly is not limited to any specific time of the year, so if you’ve got a major event coming up and want to devote more time to that, use automated rules to take care of the manual labor and spend more time enjoying the event, knowing that your campaigns will be taken care of.

Do you have any other actionable tips for optimizing your PPC campaign this holiday season? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Happy Holidays!

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Posted in Google, Pay Per Click 9 Comments »

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4 Eternal Truths about SEO

July 12th, 2012 posted by Quincy 12:08PM | View Full Story

In an industry where change is the only reliable constant, it’s nice to know there are a few things we can rely on…

1. The Human Audience Will Always Be The Most Important

This seems like a no brainer, but anyone with experience in search engine optimization (SEO) knows that sometimes it’s easy to forget this major detail once you’ve launched yourself head first into a campaign.  But don’t forget. Don’t lose focus. Always remember that your targeted audience is composed of actual humans, not the search engines you’re trying to rank highly in—and this will NEVER change.

The Good News: More than likely the work you’re doing to rank high in the search engines will also be beneficial marketing for your audience.

2. Links Will Always Play a Part in the Rankings

Computers are awesome, but let’s be honest—how is a computer supposed to determine what website is the most authoritative on a specific topic?  The answer is links.  If websites were people, inbound links would be like votes for Homecoming King and Queen. Search engines see these links and determine the most “popular” websites for the SERPs. While this aspect of SEO is definitely evolving at a rapid pace, it’s around to stay for a long time.

The Good News: Search engines are becoming better at determining whether a link is spam or not. So for those who work hard to create quality links, it’s a win-win situation.

3. You Can’t Optimize Website Content, If the Text Doesn’t Exist.

Even though the web is constantly evolving, text is still a part of every search—even when the search is for a picture or video.  It seems like a given, then, that quality content will always be an important factor in determining rankings.  Don’t try to ignore it.  If you want your site to perform well, do your homework and create quality content, because I can guarantee the search engines are reading it.

The Good News: Why on earth would you want to have bad content on your website? That just seems silly, since your target audience will be reading it, too. This is one of those instances where what you’re doing to rank well in the search engines will also be beneficial to your audience.

4. You will never REALLY know exactly how Google works.

Surprise, surprise! Do you really expect this to ever change? Google averages one algorithm change a day, making the world of SEO that much more fascinating. And just for fun, Google will come out with exciting, new updates to change the game up a little. Panda. Penguin. You know what I’m talking about.

The Good News: You don’t want to know Google’s exact algorithm, because I can guarantee that if you do, so do all of your competitors. If everyone knew exactly what to do to rank #1, websites would become so manipulated that search engines would quickly become useless to the users.

 

So there you have it.  There are a few things we can count on to always be true, even in an industry that thrives on constant change. What are your thoughts on these “eternal” truths—agree or disagree? Leave a comment with your thoughts!

Posted in General, Google, Internet, Link Building, Marketing, Search Engine, Search Engine Optimization, SEO 6 Comments »

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Where’s Your Website-O?

May 30th, 2012 posted by Michele 12:08PM | View Full Story

The Dos and Don’ts for Standing Out Online

Websites can pop up over night. All you need is a topic, some images, a bit of code, one domain name and you’re up and running. The big question is: what separates a valuable site from the rest of the overcrowding noise?

1. Don’t just throw on the same outfit because everyone else does

While the characteristic giveaway of Waldo in all our favorite childhood books is his bright striped shirt and hat, the first sign of an amateur site is overuse of a similar type of segments – tables. I guarantee that any simple coding course you take will introduce you to the useful concept of tables in html. It’s true that a table is fantastic for organization and presentation of data. However, if a table is the only thing keeping your format and layout in line, then you’re setting search engines up for failure on your site. Search engines don’t see or read an html table the same way web searchers do; instead the data will often get lost behind the excessive layers of coding causing the bots to assume that the data is not that important. Organize your information and create a unique layout for your site using a CSS style sheet.


2. Don’t overdo it

In your next programming class, it’s likely you’ll discover the joys of Flash and all the neat things you can do on your site. Moving objects, little videos, who even needs words anymore?! Instead of stuffing your site full of fancy Flash, make sure you include content that can be read by users and crawled by search engine bots. Robots cannot easily crawl graphics and they certainly cannot read Flash. External Javascript files can provide advanced functionality and usage of image title tags will keep your pictures useful to human and bot searchers alike.


3. Do utilize correct titles and summaries

Even though the saying goes “don’t judge a book by its cover,” you know we all do it. Same goes for websites. Before a user even makes it to your cover – your homepage – that user is judging your site by the title tag you choose and the meta description summary you write. If you have a strong, recognizable brand (like Mr. Waldo), include this in your title. If your brand isn’t as strong, use it in your title tag along with some identifying keywords that overview your most important topics. Then use your meta description as the quick summary similar to what you’d find on the back cover of a book. This summary should persuade the reader to invest in your business instead of the competition. Highlight what’s important, entice them to want to know more and present a non-spam description they can trust.



4. Don’t neglect your body copy


A website with no body is just half the story and will quickly be spotted for spam. Sneaking keywords into the background of your site, using the meta keyword tag at all, or getting too heavy handed with keyword usage in your copy does no benefit to human searchers. Create a site that provides true benefit to visitors. Getting to the top of ranking results requires more than quick and easy repeats of the same word on the same page. Just like Waldo, you have to bring something new to the table that users will love and want to share.




5. Do go viral

I dare you to find one person who grew up in America that doesn’t recognize the famous Where’s Waldo red and white striped getup. The simple books are a phenomenon loved by many and shared between family, friends and generations. The colorful character has even taken the hint and jumped off the hardcopy page to the living, online world of social media. Use your site to create a brand that interacts with those that love it and want to share it. Provide content that can be shared and engage with your online community to grow beyond a faceless business into a relatable character.


6. Above all else – do be unique!

The most fundamental lesson we can take from the mysterious disappearing and reappearing fiction character is to be unique. Offer your users something that not everyone else is able to do. Even when it’s tempting, refrain from duplicate content – aka don’t copy! Claim your unique content with the rel= “author” tag so others cannot re-use your copy without you getting the original credit. On top of this unique content generation, producing useful content that’s recent and fresh will bring your rankings above the rest.


In half a dozen do’s and don’ts you can help traffic find your site within the online crowd. The average internet user isn’t as patient as a joyful kid enjoying a classic hunt for Waldo, so do everything you can to make your website easy to find.

Posted in Google, Internet, Search Engine Optimization No Comments »

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An Open Letter to New Internet Marketers and College Grads: How to Thrive in the SEO Industry

April 18th, 2012 posted by Scott Redgate 12:08PM | View Full Story

Dear College Graduate/New Internet Marketer,

Congratulations! You worked your tail off, followed the tips for studying SEO in school and landed your dream job in SEO! You may be experiencing a lot of different emotions right now… excitement, relief, eagerness, nervousness, sadness in leaving your classmates, etc. Well, brace yourself! The days of waking up at 11am and going to the all-you-can-eat dining hall may be over, but trust me, your life is about to change for the better ;)

Have you ever seen the movie The Pursuit of Happyness? If you haven’t, here is a synopsis. It is a classic rags-to-riches movie where Christopher Gardner, played by Will Smith, overcomes unfathomable odds to become a stockbroker for Dean Witter. How did he do it you may be asking? Well, as Trevin stated in his previous letter, he “hustled.” Gardner developed a mindset where failure was not an option, and he strove to reach his goals – regardless of the price.

“You got a dream… You gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want somethin’, go get it. Period.”

Persuit of Happyness

I would like to challenge you to develop a similar mentality as you enter your career in Internet marketing.  Initially, leaving the classroom where you were probably at the top of the totem pole (you wouldn’t have gotten the job if you weren’t!) and entering an environment where coworkers have more knowledge and experience can be a difficult pill to swallow. One of the greatest benefits of SEM is that if you develop the mindset mentioned before, the rate of change in the industry is so great that you can bridge the gap sooner than you think. But how??

First off, classes may be over but you HAVE to become a student once again. Before you start the job, invest $20 to $40 in a book that will provide you with a foundation of mostly basic knowledge, but some advanced information as well (SEO: An Hour a Day is a good place to start). Here is the kicker… you actually have to READ IT! In college, you may have been able to get away with skimming chapters and playing Angry Birds in class, but this is an entirely different ball game. Read it once, twice, even three times… take notes, create flashcards; do whatever you have to do to get that information engrained in your mind.

Secondly, take this knowledge and apply some of it to your personal website or blog! SEO and SEM are great to read about it, but I would argue that it won’t really click in your mind until you try it out. Take chances! If you break your personal site once and a while, it’s okay (hopefully you backed it up)! Test what you are learning to see the direct impact your efforts can have.

If you remember one tip from this letter, remember this next point: Some of the most impactful knowledge I learned in Internet marketing came when I was listening to others on the phone. Open a Word document and start a daily notes journal. Did your coworker use a phrase that you are not familiar with? Jot it down and look it up! Did they state a statistic that would be beneficial to learn? Memorize it! Did they have a direct and informational response to the client? Remember it to use later! My point is there is a wealth of knowledge that you have at your disposal aside from the normal training sessions. Take advantage of it!

Next up, find a concentrated area of Internet marketing that you are interested in and become the office expert in it! After work, go home and study Schema.org markup. Learn so much about it that you become the go-to person in the office for any and all questions on that subject. After accomplishing this, move to another topic. Make your foundation so strong that not even Google can bring you down.

Another beneficial tip is to call your friends and family. Wait… what?! Exactly. Call them to explain what your job actually entails, what you are learning and what results your hard work has helped to achieve. More than likely, your parents don’t know the specifics behind SEO. By practicing and explaining the work you do to your parents, you will be a lot better equipped to explain and answer questions your future clients have down the road.

Lastly, set 30 minutes to 1 hour aside every day, outside of work, to research and find the day’s latest Internet marketing articles. Ask colleagues what their favorite sources are, set up a Google Reader, visit Inbound.Org and comment/interact on different blogs to improve your SEM credibility on the web.

This letter could go on forever but I am going to stop it here. In summary, if you want to become one of the top Internet marketers in the industry, it will be difficult but it is not impossible. Become a student once again and go get it. Period.

College Graduation

 

 

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Posted in Business Advice, Google, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, SEO 3 Comments »

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