At the WordCamp San Francisco 2008, there was a presentation for how to optimize your blog for SEO.  They provided very good, basic tips that every blogger should use, whether or not they are actively trying to optimize their site.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Check out Yahoo’s Blog: http://www.ysearchblog.com/archives/000610.html.  Many people felt Yahoo’s July 17th update was a bust and it hurt many people’s rankings.  Now, we all know Yahoo isn’t what it used to be back in the 90s, but come on folks, we have to keep up with what they’re doing.  We all still get a decent amount of traffic from them and why should we be so Google-centric anyway?  It gives Google a big head, what with their college campus, free food, self-sustaining garden… let’s not participate in them taking over the world.  Let’s make sure we collaborate and figure out what this Yahoo kid is doing.  Come on Icahn, make them sell to Microsoft so that Google can have a decent competitor.

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We love wikipedia and many of us use this tool to generate a little bit of traffic, even though it’s a no-no.  Well, Google created a new tool that is supposed to rival wikipedia, so should we be sneaky and use this tool to generate traffic as well? Read the rest of this entry »

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There was a recent update to the PageRank in Google.  There is speculation as to how those changes have affected websites.  So far, this is the only one I could find online.  I’m not sure how valid it is, but it’s a start.  And besides, do we ever REALLY know what Google’s doing?  And, taking it even one step further, is PageRank even worth anything anymore?  If you have any speculation as to the PageRank changing factors, let me know.

1. Internal links and external links on the same page may not be splitting the PageRank vote equally.
2. The location of the link affects PageRank.
3. Multiple links to the same url from the same page may not each get the same piece of the PR vote.
4. Run-of-site external links may reduce impact of PR.
5. Links between domains that Google sees as “related” may have their PR significantly damped down. Possibly the same goes for sites that link to subdomains.
6.  A major overhaul was made to the way content is parsed and separated into blocks (sidebar, main content, comments, footer) - and each block may have more or less value based on the relevance of the element on the page to the specific keyword.

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There are so many plugins on the Internet, which ones do you choose for optimizing your Wordpress Blog for SEO? Read the rest of this entry »

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Need ideas for keyword research for PPC?  I never knew this tool existed and it’s fantastic.

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

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SearchEngineland posted an article recommending against using NoFollow tags to help improve page ranks for important pages.  They cited that this was a form of spam.  And I say Bah!  Here’s why. Read the rest of this entry »

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Location, location, location.  This doesn’t just go for real estate, it also is a very valuable thing to keep in mind as you begin to market online.  You may already know that content is king so you have a number of articles written.  You have probably also heard that social media is important, so you know you want to target that market.  And lastly, with search engines becoming more vertical, they’ve added videos and images to their listings so you’ve got a few of those up your sleeve as well.  Well, just because you build it does not mean they will come.  You’ve got to put them in the right places.  Here are a few pointers that can help you with that.

Interactive Media (recommendations extracted from http://www.marketingprofs.com/8/beyond-youtube-video-for-marketing-sales-anderson.asp?part=2):

• If you just need an easy way to get a video on a Web site and share it with others, try YouTube or Blip.tv.
• If you want to post a video with clickable “chapter” descriptions so people can jump right to a particularly interesting spot in a longer clip, use a service called Veotag.
• If you envision a series of related video content—say, an occasional video case study highlighting users of your flagship product—get familiar with the video section of the iTunes Music Store.
• For a live or recorded business presentation with PowerPoint slides and other rich media elements, try Proclaim (from my firm, Netbriefings).

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I believe this to be the best resource for wikipedia and how we can use them properly for our search marketing.  Check it out.

http://www.aimclearblog.com/2007/06/02/wikipedia-seo-monster-for-brand-managers/

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Keyword Discovery and Wordtracker are great… if you want to pay for your resources.  But, if you’re on a small budget, you may find these tools suitable for your needs:

1. http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/
This tool will show you the results of your query from both Wordtracker and Yahoo! Search Marketing (formerly Overture) for determining which phrases are searched most often.

2. http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/
It’s not as robust as the full version but it will give you some good keywords and traffic estimations.

3. https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Google’s free keyword analysis tool, often used in conjunction with adwords.

Yahoo used to have a free tool with their acquisition of Overture but they have since taken it down.  We want it back!  I’ll keep you updated when/if one becomes available.

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