SEO & Keywords: Think Conversions, Not Rankings

Search engine optimization (SEO) has changed dramatically over the years and will continue to change. SEO firms of all sizes face challenges with selling, delivering, and ultimately demonstrating results of services to end clients.
The way we market, sell, deliver and report on SEO services has not kept pace and needs to catch up.
If you ask marketers today what SEO is about they will likely still say things like, "ranking number one in Google". And, unfortunately, this is what they are looking for in the SEO sales and service delivery process. (Learn more about this in "SEO Buying & Selling: 4 Tricks Creating Unachievable Expectations")
However, reporting on improvements in keyword position is pointless without applying keyword visits and conversion data.
We know SEO is an ongoing, long-term process. More specifically, it's the process of continually discovering highly converting, non-branded keywords that are driving organic search traffic and conversions. It’s about understanding search intent and how keywords used to describe your products and services evolve as a prospect progresses through the buying cycle. It is then about having insight into great data and taking action by including those optimized keywords in your content marketing plan.

This SEO process can't begin and end in a particular project phase or be completed after just one month of keyword research. It is now a four-step process that requires an SEO culture change, which includes:
•    Selling the concept of discovering and optimizing for highly converting keywords.
•    Discovering non-branded keywords driving traffic and conversions.
•    Delivering additional SEO services to capitalize on highly converting keywords.
•    Reporting on the evolution of highly converting keywords and content.

Step 1: Selling the Concept
The first place to introduce the concept of discovering and optimizing for highly converting keywords is in your marketing and sales conversations. Many SEO prospects and clients still want to buy the promise of a number 1 search position for their keywords. This goal is difficult to obtain and maintain and sets unachievable expectations for you and your client.
Instead, avoid the urge to agree upon a list of keywords with your client that your team is going to "optimize for" - that list of 10, 20, or 30 keywords that your team will go away and "do SEO for." You can call this list of keywords the keyword gap.
Every client will have a list of keywords they think they want to rank for when in reality there’s a more highly converting keyword list that will perform better. That’s what the second step, discovery, is all about.
You can do some initial keyword discovery in the sales process to demonstrate the keyword gap. Show the prospect some data for two keywords, for example:

Which one is the better performing keyword:
•    Keyword 1 (condominiums for sale in Richmond) in Position 4 for a particular page with 20 visits and 10 conversions?
•    Keyword 2 (condos in Richmond) in Position 3 for a different page with 3 visits and 1 conversion?
Based on the topic of this article, the quick answer is, Keyword 1 in Position 4 (condominiums for sale in Richmond) is a better performing keyword. An alternative answer is: more keyword discovery is required to understand if there are opportunities to optimize the web page that Keyword 2 is positioned for. Or maybe Keyword 1 is one of those highly converting keywords that should be included in all content marketing efforts.
Takeaway: Build time into your sales proposal and SEO program for ongoing discovery to uncover those highly converting keywords prospects are using at different stages of the buying cycle. Base decisions on great SEO data from a variety of sources, including SERPs, organic traffic, and conversion data. Always be on the lookout for new opportunities to optimize.

Step 2: The Discovery Process
The discovery process for new non-branded keywords should be practiced as frequently as possible. Uncover the new, non-branded keywords that are driving organic search traffic and conversions and determine whether there is an opportunity to further optimize the web presence for these keywords.
The success of this process depends on setting up goals and conversions in your analytics system. One of my favorite sayings about SEO is, "don’t bother even starting the SEO process unless you have website analytics goals and conversions configured."
Goals and conversions in your analytics system don't have to be complicated. Start with simple conversions and as you learn about your web presence increase the sophistication.
Think about what you want your website visitors to do. What would you consider a successful visit?

Here are a few examples of metrics to measure successful visits (conversions) from organic search:
•    Time spent on site: If a visitor has stayed on the site for a certain number of minutes (3+) and the bounce rate is low, then perhaps it can be concluded that the visitor read the content. The content was appealing to them.
•    Number of pages visited: If the visitor reviews two or more pages, then perhaps it can be concluded that they were intrigued with the content enough to read further.
•    Main product or services page to contact sales page: If the main purpose of the site is to promote the organization’s main product, did the visitor review the product page, then the pricing page then the contact sales page?

Takeaway: Below is the process for uncovering highly-converting keywords.
•    Set up goals and conversions in analytics.
•    As frequently as possible, look for the top non-branded keywords that are driving organic search traffic and conversions.
•    Understand the rank position for the keyword and which page or pages are ranking.
•    Understand the search volume for the keyword (both broad match and exact match).
•    Analyze the ranking pages and look for opportunities to optimize for the keyword in question.
•    Implement changes and watch for changes in position, traffic from organic search, and most importantly conversions. If there are positive changes, create some additional content that includes the keyword and again watch for changes.
•    Report newly identified, non-branded keywords and progress to the client.

Step 3: Delivering Additional SEO Services to Capitalize on Highly Converting Keywords
Once a new non-branded keyword is discovered and reported to the client, discuss the keyword opportunity and the plan for capitalizing on it.
•    What was the entry page for that keyword?
•    Where in the buying cycle is that keyword likely to be used?
•    What kind of content can be created and distributed to further support that keyword and the prospect as they demonstrate their intent to find content?
•    Is it worth further investment in SEO?

At this point, there is an opportunity to upsell the client on additional service hours to optimize and create content for the newly discovered and agreed upon keywords. It is also the point where the keyword should be included in the full content marketing strategy and further planning done on the type of content prospects require at this particular stage in the buying cycle.
Perhaps it’s a focused case study, with supporting blog content, video, whitepaper or a combination. Think about the distribution points for the content and the possible backlinks and social signals that can be created for the keyword.
Takeaway: Set aside time each month to discuss newly discovered keywords with the client.

Step 4: Reporting on the Evolution of Highly Converting Keywords & Content
The approach of identifying and focusing on highly converting keywords then incorporating those keywords into the full content marketing strategy requires a different level of reporting compared to the basic monthly SEO reporting of number of backlinks, number of keywords on Page 1, etc.
Including keyword visits and conversions data alongside position data is a great first step to getting the client thinking about the difference between ranking first for any keyword versus ranking for the keywords prospects actually value and associate with your organization.
Once the keyword is incorporated into the full content marketing strategy the reporting requirements should shift to be focused on the performance of the particular piece of content or the content marketing campaign. This is where the disciplines of SEO, social media and content marketing begin to completely collide. (Learn more about this in "Why an Optimized Content Strategy is Crucial for Social & Search")

Takeaway: With the right tracking and metrics technologies the impact of content on a web presence for the purpose of organic search optimization can be reported, including:
•    How the position has been affected for a particular cluster of keywords.
•    How many backlinks and social signals have been created.
•    How many keyword visits and conversions are associated with the content campaign.
•    And most importantly, how many sales are attributed to the content.

Conclusion
Google’s algorithm updates have changed the practice of SEO. Search marketing firms have an opportunity to evolve their sales, delivery and reporting practices to differentiate themselves.
Focusing on the discovery of highly converting keywords beginning with the sales and marketing conversations through delivery and reporting will produce stronger SEO results over the long term and happier SEO clients.

Source : http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2258762/SEO-Keywords-Think-Conversions-Not-Rankings

SEO Outreach: Gain a Competitive Edge by Running Display Ads

Identifying and leveraging SEO opportunities is at the core of achieving organic search dominance. This process is particularly critical for large companies.

Big brands have an inherent SEO advantage that, if leveraged, can lead to unrivaled organic performance. The existence of such advantages sparks debate during every industry conference Q&A session. Usually these debates focus on paid search spend influence, immunity to algorithm updates, etc., most of which are pure noise.

So what proven advantages can large companies leverage to gain a competitive edge?

Prospecting Quality Lists

Most professionals agree targeted outreach is at the core of any successful link building campaign. The process of executing a results-oriented outreach strategy is time consuming (read: expensive).

Prospecting and prioritizing relevant, authoritative targets is a critical step in this process. Large brands possess this inherent advantage: Targeted prospecting is done by Google and other large media networks for free.

This unknown fact enables certain companies to generate high-quality, extremely relevant lists with the click of a button. How do they do it?

Executing display campaigns on various media networks, such as Google Display Network (GDN), Value Click, and Yahoo. The majority of display networks will provide transparency into ad placements which can be used as the backbone of outreach campaigns for your SEO program. So how does it work?

If you're currently running ads on Google Display Network (GDN), exporting your prospect list is easy. Within any campaign, navigate to the “display network” tab, as seen below:

Once there, simply click on “placements” within the sub navigation.

Finally, filter for “automatic placements” to pull up your list along with KPIs such as clicks, CTR, etc. (KPI information by placement is only available on GDN. Other vendors only provide basic site information where your ad was displayed.)

These exported prospects are guaranteed to be relevant to your site in the eyes of Google. The algorithm Google uses to match advertising sites within GDN is built off the same relevance algorithm used for organic search. This saves tons of time having to manually qualifying each site. As a result, more time can be spent on persuasively communicating your value proposition.

Have a Unique Value Proposition

Executing a successful outreach campaign isn’t just about prospecting quality lists. It’s critical to have a unique value proposition when communicating with bloggers.

The number of companies executing outreach campaigns is rising by the day. Most are using the same tools, social networks and advanced search parameters to build their prospect lists. Over time, only those with unique value propositions will receive responses.

Even following great outreach guides like this one from Neil Patel becomes less effective over time. Why? Everyone reads these guides and uses their templates. Running display advertising provides a unique value proposition which can dramatically increase success rates.

Bloggers and webmasters want to make money (surprise!). Part of their revenue stream is generated from users clicking on ads.

If the content on the page mentions the same brand being served in on-site advertising, the click-through rate on the ads will increase. This connection and increase in revenue for the blogger is the unique value proposition that will set you apart. As an added bonus, your display campaign will also benefit from these incremental clicks.

Summary

Executing successful outreach campaigns is a sure-fire way to drive continual organic performance long term. As outreach continues to increase in popularity, unique and creative tactics become critical.

If your company or client is running display ads, you have an inherent advantage in both prospecting targets and establishing a value proposition.

Looking for additional outreach ideas and don’t have any display campaigns? Check out this post outlining three unique ways to identify link prospects.

Source: - http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2258423/SEO-Outreach-Gain-a-Competitive-Edge-by-Running-Display-Ads

Do You Really Need an SEO Expert for your Local Business Website?

This article aims to provide valuable information that will help small business owners to leverage the benefits of launching their business online. Is it really easy for them to handle their business and online stuff together? Well… I would say it’s not that easy, though it’s not that much harder as well!

Starting a local business and expecting local customers from offline marketing techniques like word of mouth publicity, local daily ads and other offline stuff is understandable but running your business online and targeting customers and sales on the web is another thing and it requires special tactics. I am going to explain some of those tactics in this article that will give you immense knowledge, confidence and determination to get started with your business online.

Steps to put your business online:

1. The foremost step is to have a neat and clean website depicting your business specifications and services. Many a times I have seen people giving not much preference to the design of the website and that results in a shady image online. You can easily find information regarding how to create a website on Google. I would suggest that you hire a web designer to do that task for you. Just book a nice domain name for your website and book a hosting space from a credible hosting provider. This is a simple and common thing which many small business owners do not tend to focus on – so make sure you get your basics right.
2. Once your website is ready online, let’s get started with local SEO or in other words, local promotion within and nearby your area. To begin with, create an account on Google Places to list your business online. You can visit www.google.com/places and sign in with your Gmail account details.
3. Once you are on the listing page, you will need to enter information like company name, address, website URL, phone numbers and other things. Make sure you enter all the information correctly. Google will then verify your information through a telephone call before creating map listing of your company. This process may take couple of weeks. You can also do a basic yahoo directory listing as per your category and geographic location.
   
4. Once placement of your business on Google Places is done, it is your job to encourage your current customers to take out some time to visit your Google Places profile and provide honest reviews about your products and services. A Google Places account with customer reviews stands ahead of your competitors and also instills a sense of credibility and reliability in new potential customers.
5. The next step is to collate a list of local business websites wherein you can enter your company details. Some useful local business websites can be Yellow Pages, Craigslist, Super Pages, Insider Pages, and others. These websites will help spread your company’s presence online. Make sure you are mentioning your company address and phone numbers in all these local websites so that the potential customer can easily contact or reach you.
6. You should keep your website up-to-date with all the information you want to pass on to your customers. Outdated websites tend to get lost in the overcrowded online marketplace.
7. Do not forget to make your presence social through social media websites, as they prove to be a real destination to get targeted customers for your products or services. I would say this is the perfect platform to show the USP of your company and the products you offer. You can create your company pages on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and other social networking websites and showcase your products and special festive deals, if any. Doing regular updates of your social accounts with special deals will attract hoards of people to like your page and to become your ultimate customers.
8. If you have a product-based business, then you can tie up with other e-commerce websites to list your products as such e-commerce or shopping websites have gigantic traffic that gives you a good chance to reap good amount product sales. This will further help in generating company awareness among the populace.
9. You can also leverage classified ad websites like eBay, Craigslist and others to sell your products. It may require more time than you expected to create and maintain these accounts and that could become a problem for you. Later on, you’ll be able to afford a dedicated person who will do the marketing for you through classified ad websites.

I do not think that the above mentioned points require much money and time to give a real boost to your online business. I haven’t mentioned any technicalities whatsoever such as On-Site Optimization, Search Engine Optimization, Paid Advertising and so on. Google can make things happen in two ways – simple way or the technical way!

Let’s first get started with the simple way and when you will get time and money for the resources, you can always go for the technical method.

Source : - http://www.searchenginejournal.com/do-you-really-need-an-seo-expert-for-your-local-business-website/60432/

How To Write Good Quality Content, Stay In Peace With People And Search Engines

Good quality blog content is the backbone of your online business. We all should have probably learned this lesson by now; especially after either getting slapped or watching our friends get slapped by the search God, Google.

Not just for Google, but the only way to please people and search engines is to have good quality blog content. It is the only way to tie both the ends.  Not keyword stuffing, not copy pasting posts from popular blogs and not building thousands of links to your 300 word rehashed (or spun) content  None of these will either please the search engines or people.
Well, I hope you get the idea of “why” good quality content matters a lot these days. Now let’s get to the “how” part, which is indeed the actionable part and also needed the most. Let’s dive straight in.
Decide the “point”

Every blog post or any form of content you create should have a “point” or a “message” in it. If not, why publish it? Make sure you start with the message when you conceive an idea for a blog post.
The moment you conceive the idea for a blog post, you should be clear (to yourself) about the end point or the message of that idea. Ask yourself this question: “What is the ultimate thing I want to tell people via this blog post?”

If you can answer that question, you can start writing the post; else you need to wait until you find a proper hook or a point for that post. All search engines (yes, not just Google, but all search engines) want to offer a great user experience to their users; after all it is their business. If your content helps the search engines deliver that, you’ll be golden from them.

And think about people. If they click through your blog post from a searchresult and leave with a great message you’ll be golden to them as well. Simple, right? It’s not rocket science.

Perform keyword research
I know what you’re thinking. You think that I’m going to tell you a shortcut or a black hat secret to find money making keywords and stuff them into your content so that you can enjoy traffic and money.
Not even close. With all the nasty smell of spam around the internet, “keyword research” is a word that has translated into “spam” for most people.  But it isn’t. Keyword research is a very important part of creating awesome content to please BOTH people and search engines.
Why? Because keyword research will help you find out the following:

(i) What keyword phrases are mostly searched by people – if you look into the global or local monthly search volumes, you can find what people are hungrily looking for. What is the use of finding those keywords? Those keywords are the “language” people use to find what they want. Those are the search terms they put into the search boxes if they are desperately looking for an answer.
(ii) What keyword phrases are hot – again, the global or local search volume will tell you which keywords are most sought after or most popular. This way you will not only be able to address people’s problems but also make it nice for the search engines by writing on popular topics.
(iii) What keyword phrases are profitable – okay this is not directly related to the purpose of our post, but still profitable keywords could mean (i) and, you know, some more…. money ;)

Write the post with clarity
This is where most bloggers fall short of. Even when you pick up the very best topic to write on, if you cannot keep your visitors on your page for long this will send a bad signal to the search engines. Do you know about (or remember) the metric called “bounce rate”? It actually measures how many people jump off your site without staying for more page views (in percentage).  If your post misses the point or is totally off the the track, then your readers will surely jump off as soon as possible.
Don’t beat around the bush thinking that you need 700 or 1000 words for a successful blog post.  It’s not about the words. It’s about the point or the message you’re delivering. Nobody is conducting a contest here. So don’t compete with your competitors in words.  Let your posts clearly get the message out in as many words it needs. Do not either restrict yourself in words or beat around the bush.And, more importantly, don’t be boring! And, don’t be annoying either.

Takeaway

Remember, the more interesting and search engine friendly you are, the easier it will be for you to:
(i) be visible in search results, and
(ii) keep your visitors longer in your site.
And, (ii) is not only to please people but it is also a good metric in the eyes of the search engines.

Source: - http://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-to-write-good-quality-content-stay-in-peace-with-people-and-search-engines/60307/

Google Kills Blocked Sites Search Feature

Remember Google's search feature that let you block websites? The one that launched in March 2011, expanded globally in September 2011, and then vanished and became useless by January 2012? It's now officially discontinued, according to this page.

"The Blocked Sites feature is no longer available," according to Google. "To block particular sites from your search results, we recommend the Personal Blocklist Chrome extension from Google. You may also download your existing blocked sites list as a text file."

The Blocked Sites feature was basically killed at the same time Google Search Plus Your World launched. Before that, users would see a note underneath or next to a URL ("Block all example.com results") after clicking the back button and returning to Google’s search results page:



After you hid a search result, you'd see this message, telling you how to manage your blocked sites:

After Blocked Sites launched, Google said it was using data from this feature, as well the Chrome Personal Blocklist extension, as a ranking signal as part of the Panda algorithm.

Source: -  http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2257056/Google-Kills-Blocked-Sites-Search-Feature