March 28, 2024

Posts Tagged ‘SEO’

Going It Alone

Online MarketingOnline Marketing

You Can’t Do It All by Yourself

I spend a great deal of time in the online marketing space and it can be a bit overwhelming as more and more ways to market online are developed and some become more powerful while other wan in value.

Also, I want to make it clear that online marketing is not just about SEO. Knowing search is imperative to online marketing but it not as big a driver as it was 5 to 7 years ago. Now social media plays a significant role and also simply to have the traffic is not worth as much if the user experience is poor and your conversion rate is low.

In fact I may be so bold as to point out that if you do not have a good conversion rate online then you do not have a business online.

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SEO Copywriting

SEO CopywritingSEO Copywriting 

It’s Complicated!

SEO copywriting is a complex skill and a very important one if you want to gain more than your fair share of online traffic.

SEO copywriting will often be categorized under “On Page SEO”, but it really deserves to be recognized as a far more complicated field than is usually acknowledged. 

 

Done well . . .

  • It is compelling and builds a desire to read more.
  • It identifies and solves problems that need to be solved.
  • SEO copywriting entertains and delights.
  • It adds value to the people that read it.
  • SEO copywriting helps a company achieve its business objectives.
  • It increases the authority of a business.

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SEO and Over-Optimization

SEO and Over-OptimizationSEO and Over-Optimization

There has been a great deal of discussion lately on the topic of over-optimization of a webpage. I have been looking into this diligently for a number of months and it is hard to get a definite handle on this. I have attended seminars, asked experts and read many articles.

 

 

 

 

Though often discussed in SEO circles as a concern, no one really seams to know exactly what is meant by over-optimization. 

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SEO Marketing Consultant Psychology

SEO Content Marketing - SEO Consultant - Invited Late to the Party . . .SEO Content Marketing – The Psychology

Often, as an SEO Content Marketing Consultant I am asked to get involved with the SEO of a website at an advanced stage of website development. Design elements are already in place, graphics created, page structure determined, even the selling and lead generation processes have been finalized before the owner or manager invites the SEO Marketing Consultant to “do the SEO”.

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Web Copy SEO

Web Copy SEO - Avoid the Duplicate Content PenaltyWeb Copy SEO

The Perils of Duplicate Content

I recently studied a website and soon discovered that its content was essentially identical to many other websites. These websites were all part of the same franchise and the owners of the individual franchises – though capable business people – probably were not aware that the individual websites were working against each other. The issue was the duplicate content.

As defined by Google . . .

Duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely matches other content or is appreciably similar. Mostly, this is not deceptive in origin and examples of non-malicious duplicate content could include:

  • Discussion forums that can generate both regular and stripped-down pages targeted at mobile devices
  • Store items shown or linked via multiple distinct URLs
  • HTML and Printer-Friendly versions of web content

If your site contains multiple pages with largely identical content, then you may want to make some adjustments just to be on the safe side. There in no need to be penalized by Google for legitimate duplicate content.

Here is more from Google . . .

In the rare cases in which Google perceives that duplicate content may be shown with intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users, we’ll also make appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved. As a result, the ranking of the site may suffer, or the site may be de-indexed.

Here is my Web Copy SEO advice:

  • Google tries hard to show pages in their search results with quality unique content. Create high quality unique content even if you are the owner of a website that is a member of a franchise. 
  • If you own a franchise website then consider how you can expand the content of your website. Break up a page were multiple services are described into multiple pages describing each service. This way you can increase your depth of content and avoid the issue of duplicate content as well. 
  • If you are a franchise website owner do something creative and different with your content. Add a photo gallery to the page or a video. Craft a compelling offer and match it with a strong call to action. Offer some free advice via a download link that no other franchise website has. 
  • Get to know a good copy writer. I use the services and work with Heidi White. She is a Freelance Copy Writer. She is a great writer and also has a very respectable handle on search engine optimization from a copy writer’s perspective. If you struggle with writing or perhaps do not have the time to create high-quality web copy then Heidi can be a great service provider for you.

If you are interested in an SEO Audit then feel free to contact us (802-457-9799). Our SEO Audit will also provide you with insights as to whether your site could be perceived as having duplicate content as well as providing you with insights on other SEO related aspects of your website.

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SEO & Market Segments

SEO Market SegmentsSEO Market Segments

How well do you know and your best clients and potential client market segments? 

Many targeting and personalization best practices are based on three simple truths:

 

  • Different visitors respond to your website in different ways.
  • Visitors with shared characteristics constitute segments.
  • Matching content and features to segments pays dividends.

You need to define and then understand the differences in your websites visitors. If you are a B&B and near an international border does your website have a way to appeal to people from both countries? If you are a company based in the United States your product could appeal to visitors from the UK and you can see that people from the UK visit your site then it is wise to match your web copy to this market segment.

Consider what happens when you open an online store on the World Wide Web. Even if your marketing focus is domestic potential customers from around the world will eventually visit your site and, depending upon what your site is selling, they may want to buy  from you. This is an international segment and it may be more lucrative than you think.

To find out how lucrative, first check your site metrics to see how much international traffic you have and how it is converting. If this segment is converting below average, consider targeting some of your site content to the top 1 or 2 countries in the international segment.

For example, let visitors from the UK know that your business is happy to sell and ship to the UK. It could be a simple as that to boost conversion.

International traffic is but one example of visitor segmentation. Do you know your markets? Have you considered how to speak to your segmented markets and how adding certain customizations could help key segments convert? Give this some serious thought and increase your conversion rate.

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Fishy Links – How Do We Tell if a Link is Fishy?

SEO and Fishy LinksWhat is a Fishy Link?

Penguin is a new version of the Google algorithm. It is intended to sniff out and then trash “fishy” links. This begs an important question. How does Google define a fishy link? How will Penguin catch these smelly fishy links?

I want to help you to understand what is the thinking behind a fishy link.

Here are some concepts:

  • If you have too many unnatural or spammy inbound links pointing only to your home page then this is cause for concern. Have the links point to multiple relevant pages as much as possible.
  • If all of your links a perfectly worded exact match text links then this may not look natural. Be careful overdoing it with exact keyword phrase links all going to the same page. Gain some non-keyword phrase in-coming links.
    If your have a large portion of your links coming from the comment sections of blogs or forums. Get links from a variety of sources.
  • If you have a large number of links from the same IP address with the same keyword phrase. Get as many links as possible from as many relevant sources as possible.
  • If a large percentage of your links come from low quality sites. Get as many high-quality sites to link to you as you can.
  • If a large portion of your links are from low quality directories. Again, establish variety in your link network.
  • If you have links from link farms and get caught then this is trouble. Just don’t do it.
  • If you have too many unnatural footer links then this could be considered fishy. Avoid SEO companies that employ this kind of link building.

Beyond this Penguin wants to see links built up over time. If it detects a large number over a fairly short time frame then it may pay closer attention and if you violate a few of the above items then with the extra scrutiny your search position may not improve.

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Does Google’s Link Operator Tell You Anything Meaningful?

Google and LinkingDoes the Google’s Link Operator Tell You Anything Meaningful?

The simple answer a NO! Typing link:www.yoursite.com into Google’s search box often won’t even show you any links. It certainly will not show you all your links. When it does show you some, they’re usually not the best ones.

Don’t bother to use this command because it is mis-leading at the very best. While there are some helpful tools that can find some backlinks, there is no foolproof method for finding out about all the links that point to your site or to your competitors’ sites. The good news is, just because you can’t find them all doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Keep making a great site with great content that delights your visitors and also continue to create fresh web content. Then work to get the word out in as many ways as you can.

Keep building your link profile and link network. Do not worry too much if you cannot generate an accurate list of all your links. As you create great web content and gain in-coming links you will see your site rise in search and you will see your traffic grow and this will be proof enough.

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