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SEO Tips Live

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:16:00 -0500

Folks, for those looking to sharpen their skills of find an elusive answer on any topic in SEO, I now introduce SEO Tips in the "Guides" section of the site. I've started the section with a handful of topics, with many more coming in the next week. Please feel free to send me your SEO, Social Media, Paid Search or other search marketing questions my way via the contact page form.

Looking forward to getting some good questions and being able to deliver the highest calibur of solutions I can. - Filipe

Paperless Postal Service - Zumbox

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:42:00 -0400

Zumbox is a very interesting service that has collected the ability to send electronic versions of traditional mailings in a visual format to anyone in the USA. The concept is meant to reduce paper use through the mail system to reduce our impact on the environment, reduce cost/waste and improve access by allowing users to get their mail on any computer anywhere in the world. This strikes me as extremely convenient.

Now while this could of cource cause issues for the USPS bottom line, it really is inevitable that the postal service has to change their model quite a bit to not rely on strictly paper deliveries - since we are for the most part conscious of the detriment to trees, ecosystems and our wallet from wasting so much paper. The post office will likely be working more to ship packages and extrmely sensitive mailings with the potential to also buy out this company (or create their own) and begin a digital service to recoup potential bottom line losses from this shift in global thinking.

This also clearly allows for more internet use which will help electronic service and product companies grow and certainly affect the ability to collect analytics information for use in email maketing, SEO and paid search. The tracking that is allowable for email campaigns in search marketing will now transfer to this offering, allowing businesses to be even more intune with customer actions and reactions to information. Businesses are also likely to see more traffic from this and allow for better collaboration on marketing and mailing efforts.

Try it now for free at: http://cli.gs/96PWp0

Google Place Pages

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:48:00 -0400

The official Google Blog now states that every PLACE in the world now has its own webpage. The format of these pages will resemble: http://maps.google.com/places/us/city/street/ZIP/-business-name, which in many cases may include very simple info, but places reasoning to engage with Google to claim the listing(s) and potentially turn into an AdWords client.

• Currently there are 21 million small or medium sized local businesses spending on average, $4k per year on yellow pages advertising and other local advertising (~$25B annually)
• 75% of Internet users have used the internet in the past three months to look up a place on a map or to get driving directions

Worded a bit differently or concisely,
1. Lot's of money's being spent locally, by local business to get customers in their doors and buying a service or product
2. Users/Customers are increasingly their consumption of use of the internet and consulting with maps (from search engines and other sites) online to find their way around and to locate businesses to patronize

With time, those local business owners will also begin to direct some of that $4k per year to the providers of internet and mobile map services...

Google maps, now with the availability of the Place Pages makes it easier for users to find important information about businesses or places in a single, simple webpage without having to interrupt the search experience and prevents folks from getting side tracked on a mini expedition to determine whether or not a place is worth the visit. These place pages also include an entire page of rich details, like photos, videos, a Street View preview, nearby transit, reviews and related websites. According to Mike Sterling, Google is running a separate algorithm that ranks content providers like review sites within these pages, making it far more relevant for SEO's to also begin learnign how to best optimize these pages for clients through traditional natural search tactics and also with social marketing concepts.

While a benefit for users of Google Maps, you can’t help but notice that this will be a very compelling tool to help Google in its efforts to sell in to local brick and mortar businesses which may not have lacked a meaningful website or online presence prior. This also Puts Google Place Pages on the map with Yelp and Yodle to name a few. This also ensures that brick and mortar stores/locales are pulled online one way or another - which is a Win-Win scenario for both.

Search Engines Fail at Delivery of Obama's Healthcare Speech

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:37:00 -0400

President Obama's Healthcare Speech Deserves Better Search

A string of comments to well known author and search analytics guru, Avinash Kaushik, concerning the difficulty of finding relevant and up to date information from the major search engines left much to be desired. In particular, people were responding the Obama's Healthcare speach - attempting to get to a site or video of the speech to no avail. As I mentioned in the response comments to Avinash, there truly is a problem linking the value percieved from what users want and the timing from which other mediums bring important topics to light - including mainstream media, to the web. Don't get me wrong, Algorythms have come along way and help to reduce blatant spam, along with some innocent bystanders, however, I'd like to stay on the positive side and say that perhaps this just means we have much work to do on all fronts as SEO's, users, search engines and businesses - to get data in all of it's presentable forms up to par.

Reference: http://technology.globalthoughtz.com/index.php/search-technology-has-long-way-to-go/

Google Vs. On Demand Services

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:35:00 -0400

Google Takes on Demand Driven Movie Delivery

Google's YouTube service is currently in talks with movie studios to provide rentals online though the video website. This has some serious implications for Netflix and blockbuster which have competing online services to deliver movies through broadband connections, on demand. With broadband Internet adoption growing in households worldwide, along with wider funnels for data, consumers are able to enjoy this on demand delivery without flaw. As for searches conducted on Google and it's competitors Bing and Yahoo!, clearly this can help boost the visibility of movie data online. A short note about this also: advertising dollars to promote the videos after cinema release will probably go into this venue - adwords for example and clearly SEO.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125192241524880801.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

June 2009 - Recent Google Updates

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:32:00 -0400

Recent Google Updates

Google made a slew of changes to their services and search algorythms. These are the ones published and in public knowledge at this point whcih are faily recent:

Google Flash Files Indexing - Googlebot, Google's search engine spider software will now be indexing external content & websites used in SWF files (http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/06/flash-indexing-with-external-resource.html)

Google Webmaster Central - Reconsideration requests filed within webmaster central cna now come with notifications so that you will have a status on your filing (http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/06/reconsideration-requests-now-with.html)
Google Custom Search - Automatic Transilteration feature allows users to type in one language but see results the in another language (http://googlecustomsearch.blogspot.com/2009/06/automatic-transliteration-for-custom.html)
Google AdSense - Now allows users to change font size for ad display units (http://adsense.blogspot.com/2009/06/font-size-matters.html)
Google Maps & Transit - Added seven new transit authorities to their panel

Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Houston, TX
VIA Metropolitan Transit in San Antonio, TX
Utah Transit Authority, Salt Lake City, UT
Metro St. Louis, St Louis, MO
Foothill Transit, San Gabriel Valley, CA
Riverside Transit, Riverside, CA
Charlotte Area Transit System, Charlotte, NC
Pinella Suncoast Transit Authority, St. Petersburg, FL

Google Book Search - Was redesigned and now includes embedded links, book search within each book, thumbnail views, content drop-down menu, plain text mode, page turn button and animation, as well as an updated book overview (http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-features-on-google-books.html)

Microblogging Search Engine - A claim by the unofficial Google Operating System blog (http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/06/google-to-launch-microblogging-search.html) mentions that Google may be releasing a microblogging service similar to twitter and would complete against Twitter and Facebook, utilizing a similar feature set to Facebook's search tests (http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/090617-005456)

Twitter Monetization

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:32:00 -0400

Twitter Monetization Strategy : Defined

I had always wondered what the Twitter motive/monetization strategy was going to be (Thanks goes to http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/090623-142409 for the breakdown). The "trick" here for the Twitter model IMHO, is the integration of those context delivered advertisements by tweet or stream - that does not alienate or further complicate the experience and essence of using Twitter for most. Clearly I remember the same thing occuring with regard to banner ads many years ago, many businesses were forgoing the use of banner ads to both speed up the page load but to also appeal to users sensability of not being bombarded.

Considering the basis of the monetization strategy in simple terms though is one of the most likely to appeal to advertisers while (if algorythmically in tune with the user" experience) will also keep users tweeting without much looking back. Privacy however, and the sale of information from Twitter users is a different beast to tackle and may rile quite a few advocates of Internet privacy rights.

Matt Cutts Responds to Google Questions on Big Brands in Natural Search

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:29:00 -0400

Google Engineer - Matt Cutt's Response to Video Question on Big Brands Competing in Natural Search

Recently, Matt Cutts from Google opened up a grab bag for questions to be answered in his weekly video series on YouTube. I finally got one of my questions aired and answered, but the response was lackluster - as expected. I respect the guy for his ability to discuss at length what he might and to express his views as an insider at Google, but certainly felt he did a poor job of tackling my question.

By the way what in Google's perception constitutes a "Mom and Pop" business online versus big brand? The line is certainly not defined and in my experience big brand usually does extremely well for primary keywords and critical phrases without any SEO work done, but once the floodgates are open with regard to SEO work enabled, the longtail comes and primary/critical terms get lift into top notch SERP results...

I am not completely saying that the bias is intentional, but it is an unfair advantage that is "given" rather than earned. What are your thoughts?

Take a view of the video here: Why do Big Brands Do Well in Natural Search Most of the Time?

Ace Hardware - Labor Day SEO for DIY Homeowners

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:22:00 -0400

Ace Hardware Chain - Marketing on Labor Day for DIY is Great for SEO

Interestingly enough, a major hardware chain decided to create compelling content that could improve it's SEO efforts - namely taking the Labor Day holiday and serving up original content on a variety of DIY tips and articles such as, "How to Replace Your Showerhead" and "Hot to Lay a Brick Patio". The content is aimed at getting homeowners who have set time on the holiday to accomplish projects around the home - and who may be searching the web for tips or instructions on how to get the projects completed. It seems that this tactic has worked quite well for ACE Hardware since it's the tenth time they've employed a similar method.

Brian Wiborg, director of consumer marketing for Ace Hardware, said the company expects the marketing campaign to result in improved search engine optimization (SEO) for the retailer.
"This targeted online marketing campaign is designed to make these projects and our solutions even easier for consumers to discover through organic search," he said.

Source: Brafton.com