Internet Marketing – Learning To Recognize And Explore Common User Behavior Search Patterns

April 4, 2013 By + Leave a Comment

Internet Marketing – Learning To Recognize And Explore Common User Behavior Search Patterns
By John Alexander

For years now, I have been fascinated with the concept of how people search for information on the Web. While it’s true that the Web has made searching for information easier, it is still interesting that search methods can vary widely depending on how the individual is thinking plus I still find that the ways they conduct a search still follow a much more limited number of identifiable patterns.

By examining certain factors that cause variables in user search behavior and taking into account those details, you’ll often discover variations to help identify common search behavior patterns and gather a sense of what is most important within the users life that causes them to search the way they do.

What type of behaviors are going on over the Web these days?

It’s most often that a person’s search behavior is influenced by the conditions that they are experiencing in their lives.

When it comes to understanding user behavior, for the purpose of keyword research and SEO, I have learned that too often, the keyword research defaults to logically guessing at what keywords might be used rather than exploring a much wider scope and researching all of the associated data.
What Factors affect user search behavior?

Search behavior is the result of several independent factors and influences that the user brings to the search operation.

1. Search experience – these days people are searching more intelligently:

Users who possess a better understanding of a search engine’s capabilities and options may have more ways
to go about finding fresh information. If you for example know how to use Boolean operators, exact strings,
filtering controls, and have proven strategies for exploiting search, then you have a much richer arsenal
at your disposal for research. But search experience alone, by no means is an absolute requirement for success.

I have seen that users who are short on possessing the technical skills and yet may be rich in there
exploration of even more common terms, that can often get by and find those nuggets of gold too. On the other
hand, there are others who tend to have great difficulty finding information in certain subject matter or an
unfamiliar body of knowledge.

2. What are the most common stumbling blocks that prevent people from discovering useful and
   interesting user search behaviors.

A. Many people tend to want to explore keyword phrases based on the most logical options. They often
will in fact, spend periods of time trying to guess at the phrases that make the “most sense.”
This type of research rarely reveals the trails of gold that exist. Most often the results only
reflect highly competitive terms and often only average search volumes that a huge number of people
seem to be limiting themselves to.

B. Often people are not exploring the data because they assume some of smaller, boring little words
could not possibly have any benefit. This is simply not the case. But the only way to determine
whether a root word may be part of a fuller, revealing, search phrase that is actually being used,
is to follow through the process to completion. I have found many examples where what started as a
random even slightly illogical sorting of data, ends up revealing very powerful and telling phrases.

By this, I am referring to those little phrase clusters, that actually tell a bigger story about the
conditions existing in the users life.

C. Sometimes a business will postpone the keyword research phase (thinking they’ll do it later
on after the Web site is finished being built.) This is putting the cart before the horse
and does not afford the SEO staff the ability to build content to match the timing and the
magnitude of the hottest searches that are happening in the now.

A far smarter approach is to get the keyword research done first so that you can take advantage
of the true search phrases that users are searching with. It’s wisdom to use fair to high
volume keyword phrases that also have lower or moderate competition.

In this fashion, you are publishing each new page with a strategy to attract the most correct
searching audience and in many cases, you’ll achieve much higher organic results within a much
shorter time frame simply because you are not competing with the masses.

3. Considering the users cognitive search style:
• Those with a broader thinking style usually first try to build a wider level of understanding
across several topics that are related in some way.

• The more logical or analytical style thinkers tend to dig right into a specific topic and
research it thoroughly to resolve a related specific problem.

Many people lie somewhere in between either of these extremes and occasionally using either cognitive style but often tending to use more of one than the other.

4. Understanding user search behavior with the end goal:

Search criteria will vary from one query to the next, and may be broadly classified into 3
different category types such as:

• Navigational type searches (which are usually conducted to find a specific location,)
- Looking for a site to convert world time zones
- A site that allows the look up of zip codes
- Etc.

• Informational searches (which are usually conducted to find specific and detailed information,)
- Statistical searches
- Historical information
- Instructional information
- Etc.

•Transactional searches occur (which usually is conducted to transaction related variables,)
- Buying tickets online
- Locating flight costs, travel times on an airline
- Etc.

5. Taking into Account the user’s reference of seeking information:

This can range from exploring information on known items or products, where people know exactly what they need and how to describe it, to much more exploratory searches, where they may only possess a loose concept what they want to find.

Examples of telling search phrases:

- “crime rates in New York City” or “crime statistics NYC” (could possibly reflect a user interested in moving to New York)

- “Nikon vs Cannon”   (comparison shopping for digital camera prices and benefits)

- cost of living comparrisons in the US (Someone searching for where it might be more affordable to live.)

- franchise opportunities under 10k  (a business opportunity seeker looking for a lower cost franchise)

- dollarama versus walmart  (Dollar store shoppers trying to price comparrisons on less expensive products.)

- These are only just a few short samples of keywords that reveal search behavioural insights – There are thousands more.

In Summary:

User search behavior varies with technical skills, cognitive styles, search goals, and mode of seeking.

All of these factors will interact in complex ways to influence a user’s actions. The primary thing is that the SEO or business owner cannot select the search behavior that a user will follow
when conducting a search.

However, it is possible to research keyword phrases in a way that helps reveal user search behavior and give you the insights into what your ideal buying audience is actually searching for. With this comes the revelation of the user’s search intent which is still extremely valuable when building useful and engaging content that ties in very hot and in demand topics for the searching audience.

About Keyword Forensics Researcher John Alexander:

John Alexander is Founder and Director of Training for Search Engine Academy since January 2002.
John also offers consulting services and keyword forensics research services to SEO Professionals,
Internet Marketers, Web development professionals and business owners through
Http://KeywordForensics.com

Are you interested in attending an SEO Workshop?

Check out our upcoming SEO training locations and dates here.

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Free Website Traffic – 5 Advanced Keyword Research Tips

February 15, 2013 By + 6 Comments

Increasing web traffic is a common topic of conversation these days.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t start teaching keyword research and the basics of search engine optimization in high school.

Gold key on words - Keyword ResearchThe most traditional way to think about keyword research is to think about the words people use when they are searching.  We all know our own businesses and  the industry terminology;  we can talk in acronyms, jargon, and company-speak along with the best.

There may be situations in which your prospective customers are looking for those specific terms, but more often than not their search is behavioral in nature.

People go to Google with a question in mind or a problem they need to solve, sure sometimes people search just for the fun of it, but most of the time they are looking for detailed and relevant information.  They are searching with intent.

Back in the old days, searches tended to be on one or two words and searchers had to spend a lot of time sifting through the results to find the information they are looking for.

As both search engines and people have gotten more sophisticated search phrases are getting longer and more specific.  This makes blogging a powerful tool for driving traffic to your website.  It doesn’t make sense to add a page of content to your website for every long tail keyword phrase, but it does make sense to write a blog post that provides great information and is optimized for the phrase.

So when you’re getting ready to write that blog post, article, or fill out the content on your website, there are a few things you can do to take your keyword research to the next level and take advantage of the long tail phrases to drive more free traffic to your website.

5 Advanced Keyword Research Tips

  1. In addition to the root words for your industry, include behavioral terms as well.  People don’t want to find something generic, they want the ‘best,’ or the ‘warmest,’ or the most ‘affordable.’
  2. Think about whether the intent is to research or to buy, the words and the content you create may be completely different based on the searcher’s ‘intent.’
  3. Continue to use keyword tools to validate your phrases, but also include intelligence from social networks and the trends that relate to your niche.
  4. Research and use related topics – if you sell swimming pools, those buyers also need pool cleaning products, suntan oil, and other pool accessories.
  5. Use Google’s related search as as source for additional ideas and as a source of validation.

For example, the related searches for the phrase “inground swimming pool,” might generate an idea to write an article to help a prospective buyer understand various options and the long term and short term costs associated with putting a pool in.  This is the type of information someone would be looking for during the research phase.

inground swimming pool google related searches

When it comes to doing keyword research think about why a person is searching in addition to what they might be searching for.  Don’t forget to have fun and use your imagination.

What’s your favorite keyword research tip?

Until next time.

Cheers!

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SEO – Unlock Your Inner Artist – 7 Tips for Writing Great Content

January 15, 2013 By + 3 Comments

SEO is a technical almost borderline scientific process isn’t it?

Words like algorithms and relevancy ranking sure make it sound like it is.

Quill Writers PenSearch engine optimization (SEO) is actually a very creative process.  It’s an opportunity to unlock the creativity you may not even be aware you have.

You may be shaking your head and saying something like, “I’m not an artist and not even the least bit creative.  I can’t even draw a stick figure.”

My bet is that is if you enjoy doing or appreciate the beauty in at least one of these things:

  • Music
  • Reading
  • Dancing
  • Art
  • Gardening

You’re more creative than you give yourself credit for.

When it comes to search engine marketing, we focus on a lot of things that may seem “technical,” but in reality almost every aspect of SEO is part art and part science.  The most successful sites are the ones that apply creativity  to their approach to everything from keyword research to writing content; and yes even programming and information architecture can be creative.

Let’s focus in on content.  We all know that “content is king” and want to fill our websites with information that keeps our visitors (and the search engines) coming back again and again.  But it’s hard to write good content, right?

It doesn’t have to be.

There are many great ways to come up with ideas for content.  Customer comments, trending Google searches, and plain old fashioned keyword research can provide you great topics that will interest your readers.

Take those ideas and run with them.  Whether you’re writing a press release, a blog post, or copy for a PPC campaign; if you give yourself some wiggle room and relax – writing great content won’t be nearly as hard as you thought it would be.

 

7 Tips for Writing Great Content

  1. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes – write for them, not the search engines
  2. Don’t be stingy – give information away for free
  3. Put a twist on it – that crazy idea you’ve been dying to share?  Do it!
  4. Take risks – be the first to try something
  5. Look to your competitors for inspiration – you know what they say, “enemies make strange bedfellows”
  6. Listen to your customers – provide answers to their questions and help them solve problems
  7. Think in opposites – if you sell child ‘safety’ products, explain how your products can prevent ‘injury’

When it comes to search engine optimization and writing content: follow your instincts, write for your audience, and have fun.  You’ll be amazed at the results.

Which tip resonated with you?

What’s your favorite technique?

Until next time.

Cheers!

 

 

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Internet Marketing For Profit – How You Can Create A Successful EBook

November 29, 2012 By + 2 Comments

Internet Marketing For Profit – How You Can Create A Successful EBook
By John Alexander

Taking a little break from the topic of SEO Training, I was thinking back to 9 years ago when a friend of mine, Michael Campbell, encouraged me to write my first e-book. Never having written one before, I guess I thought to myself, but who would want to read my e-book?

I had just shown Michael some recent keyword research and that’s how it all got started. I took his advice and he provided me with some great insights on everything from how it needed to be written, the language and even the graphics and pricing. My first e-book was created in 2003 and I called it “Wordtracker Magic.”

Basically, it contained my personal methodology of using the tool called Wordtracker, to research user search behavior. How to save literally hundreds of hours of time and quickly tap into pure gold. Last year, I finally took the book off the market, since Wordtracker had changed their metrics.

 

 

 

 

Let’s talk about how you can create a successful e-book of your own.

Your e-book deserves to be seen by everyone in your niche, but unless you have an effective internet marketing strategy no one will ever know about it. The difference between your e-book being great and being successful is your ability to get it in front of the people. Once you have the e-book completed and to your high expectations the battle is only half over.

The rest of your work now is finding how to market it online.

The most important thing that you can do is make sure that your e-book is the best that it can be. Make sure that your ideas are crisp and clear, that it is error free grammatically and everything is spelled correctly.
Also ensure that all illustrations help emphasize the points you are making, and that it is pleasing to the eye.

It is easy for bad illustrations to become a distraction, so make sure they are done well. If you need to, get people to review and critique it for you and you take their advice seriously. The better your product is, the more
excitement will be created around it.

Between 2003 and 2005 that little e-book called “Wordtracker Magic” had earned over $50,000.00 and it sold for just $29.95.

Around the year 2005, I decided to re-write my original book and I added more examples and more methods for instantly finding the hottest phrases in Wordtracker’s keyword tool.  I renamed it “Keyword Forensics 2.0 for SEO” and nearly everyone that had bought the first version, came back to get the second version and it continued to make money every day, whether I was in the office or whether I was away teaching an SEO Workshop somewhere.

A couple of important points here:

1. Wordtracker, the tool had very few instructions back in 2003 and in speaking with others, I had learned that many people were spending hours just trying to find good keywords. I learned that not too many people used my methodology to quickly find search behavior.

When you write your e-book, it needs to be an eye opener. If it is instructional, then whatever strategy you are writing about must really help the reader in some useful way.

Ask yourself:

  • Will your book help save people time?
  • Will it help them make money?
  • Will it help them improve results somehow?
  • Will it help improve their performance in some way?
  • Will it somehow fill in a missing gap in a product?

Give it some thought, because this is crucial to building the readers desire to read it. It must be something truly useful. Strive for excellence and people will strive to get what you offer them.

2. Make sure your sales letter is well written and that it spells out all the benefits in the book. I was fortunate to have the very skilled help of Michael Campbell to watch over my shoulder. He actually helped write the original sales letter and that’s where I learned a lot about how people think when they are reading a Web page.

Once everything is published online, you can let your subscribers know that you have a new e-book. But also use word of mouth to spread the word about your e-book. It would be best to supply your customers with a form that they can recommend it to their friends and associates.

If it becomes hot enough, remember to put a “buy now” link right at the top of the sales letter so people can buy right away if they’re hearing good things.

Another marketing strategy that is going to be incredibly helpful is providing short articles full of good information to e-zines.

The internet is full of these type of sites and used by a wide range of people to seek out this kind of information. What this can accomplish is you make yourself known on a wider audience as an authority or expert on the subject you are dealing with. This will only help you, though, if you provide a link to your site or your e-book.

Don’t let them know everything that you know. Leave them with only part of the answers or snippets of information that you want them to know and that to get the rest of it they are going to have to pay for it. If you do this part right, they are going to buy.

A key strategy is to create a group of customers who will keep coming back and buying what you offer in the future. Offer free incentives for them to buy your e-books like an e-zine, newsletter, or even an e-book that you have written earlier or one that you have rights to.

The benefits of the e-zine or newsletter is that you are seen as a constantly good source of information and you stay on their radar. When you have your next e-book, you will have your first group of customers ready to go.

These ideas are only the tip of the iceberg but enough to get you going. If you have something excellent to offer people on the internet with your e-book, then have a marketing strategy that will bring it the attention it deserves.

 

 

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If You Need Web Traffic – Internet Marketing Provides A Realm Of Endless Possibilites

November 27, 2012 By + Leave a Comment

The internet itself is a realm of endless possibility, anyone can go out and start up their
own web based business and be successful. Thousands upon thousands of people have
already done this, and there is nothing stopping you from experiencing that same success.

The only thing that can often stop you is, well, you.

The single greatest pitfall potential business owners face is they simply give up.  They do
not see any returns and think it does not work, so they lose hope and abandon it. But if
you stick it out, you can join the statistics of successful internet business owners.

But to do that you Need Web Traffic to easily to your site.

Learning how to drive traffic is the most important aspect of owning an online business.
The more traffic you get, the better odds you have of selling your product and making money.

It’s like they always say, even if you make the best business in the world, if nobody knows it
exists then you still will not make any money.

Internet Marketing provides a realm with no limits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are some methods you can use to get people to visit your website that I
will share with you.

1. Take time to learn SEO first, not later.

2: If you don’t want to use SEO then you can pay for ads. But this method requires
money, and so if you are working under a tight budget this may not be an option.
But if you can afford it, then purchasing ads with search engines like Google or
Yahoo! are a great ways to increase awareness of your site’s existence.
Sometimes you have to spend money to make money, after all.

3: Strategically disperse links. If you Need Web Traffic, then back linking is something
you are going to have to do, and likely will have to do a lot. Back linking is where
you have another website carry a link to your site. More often than not this is done
by submitting to search directories that will carry your link. Another good way is by
Blogging. But whatever you do, be sure to find topic specific pages that fit with
your type of business.

3: Viral marketing. I am sure you have heard of this before, viral marketing is where you
get other people to market for you in a natural way. For example, if you have a youtube
video that involves your business and it gets a ton of hits because it is popular, that
is all marketing for your website. It can be difficult to pull off, but when it works
you will have very noticeable results and there is no telling how great an impact it
will have.

4: The importance of Keywords. Like back linking, keywords are of prime importance for
internet marketing. Keywords are the words or phrases people type into google to find
what they are looking for. You want to make sure your website is using keywords properly
so that the search engines can find your website and put it into the results when people
search for that specific keyword. If you are found for a topic that is unrelated to your
audience’s needs, you won’t see any organic traffic. Performing good Keyword research
must not be neglected.

If you Need Web Traffic then following these tips can help you get it. These are by no means
all there is when it comes to internet marketing and there are a lot of finer points you can
learn and master in order to maximize your search visibility as well as your profits.

But once you get the hang of it and get your business going, it is an easy and secure source
of income.

If you need to speed up the learning process, one of the easiest and fastest ways to grow
very competent in your skills, is to “learn by doing.” You can attend attend a hands-on
Workshop where you bring your laptop and actually work one-on-one with a certified
Master Instructor. You’ll get a very thorough training with great attention to detail. And
if  you attend any one of Search Engine Academy schools, you’ll also get a free 6 month
Mentoring Program at no extra charge.

For a listing of 2 Day Basic SEO class, or a 3 Day Advanced SEO class or a 5 Day Complete
SEO Mastery workshop in many communities around the globe, see workshop dates and locations
here.

Learn about in-person, hands-on SEO workshop with one of our expert trainers!
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Search Engine Academy Recommends Use of Fabulous Video at No Cost

November 21, 2012 By + Leave a Comment

Greetings Everyone,

By now you probably have noticed many of the brand new topics we have added to our hands-on Search Engine Academy Workshops.  In a minute, I’m going to give you some specific advice on how to use video and create your own full video productions that  I promise will wow your Web visitors, but it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. In fact it won’t cost you anything at all.

I’d like to write a few new posts on some of our very latest course upgrades which include topics that go well beyond SEO. We have many new sessions on things like understanding Google’s metrics, Web Analytics, Pursuasive Copywriting to compel you visitors to take action on your Web site, and great deal of new Social Media not to mention our new Google Day, where we spend the whole day discussing everything you need to know about Google in great detail. You can see the full list of course topics in this previous post.

But for our first post today, let’s talk about video a little bit. Our new expanded session in class covers “How to Optimize Video for Top Search Engine Rankings and we get into all of the important video to-do things from video formats to varoious video resources that you need to take advantage of.

Diamond ideas

Now let me just suggest a couple of things you can do that are pretty simple and best of all, they won’t cost you a penny.

Create Full Video Presentations that handle Powerpoints, Background Music and even allow you to narrate to your audience.

You might expect to pay quite a bit of money on equipment, but this system I’m telling you about will allow you to do all of this with no special cameras or equipment and even includes a library of music that is all free to use. Create impressive videos in just minutes with no muss, no fuss and you can easy embed them right on your Web site.

Are you ready to give it a try?

Great, then go to My.Brainshark.com  Watch a couple of the Demos, sign up for a free account and create your first video.

Now what happens if you should want some very specific video clips or backgrounds or something a little different?

You could go to Photolia.com which is not free, but they will sell you video clips, images or vector graphics at a very reasonable price and they do have a pretty powerful image search engine for finding exactly what you need.

However, suppose I gave you the name of a resource that will allow you to download tons of video, motion graphics, animations special effects, motion backgrounds, Royalty free Music clips and sound effects with 7 Days of access at no charge? The video animations are extremely high quality video in categories like:

  • Time Lapse Photography
  • Aerial Footage
  • Motion Backgrounds
  • Animals and Nature
  • People
  • International Locations
  • US Cities and Locations
  • Slow Motion Effects
  • Plus many more

What they give you is 7 Days free access to download absolutely anything you want from their library of literally thousands of videos. Download whatever you like with 7 days of free access at Videoblocks.com.

Check our Search Engine Academy dates page for the next SEO certification training located around the globe.

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Search Engine Academy Rolls Out Brand New SEO Training Modules Globally #SEO

November 5, 2012 By + Leave a Comment

For November, we are pleased to announce our newest and freshest upgrades to the SEO Mastery Workshop
live training program around the the globe. I thought it might be appropriate to give you a first hand look
at many of the newest subjects to be included at all of local the Search Engine Academy Workshops.

Here is a quick overview of the entire 5-Day SEO Workshop:

Day 1 – Basic SEO Essentials

  • What is Search Engine Optimization
  • How Search Engines Work
  • Organic Versus Paid Search
  • Anatomy of a Search Results Page
  • Why Apply SEO to Your Web site
  • How to implement SEO
  • The Benefits of Doing SEO
  • Examining a Stress Free System of doing SEO
  • Google Trends
  • Making Your Content Effective
  • The New World of Web Content
  • Google Panda and SEO
  • Google Webmaster Tools
  • Questions and Answers

Day 2 – Basic SEO Essentials

  • Linking Strategies Through External and Internal Linking
  • Key Concepts – Authority, Relevancy and Pagerank
  • A Comparison of Various Links
  • Links and Google Penguin
  • External Linking Strategies
  • Types of Links
  • Understanding Link Diversity
  • Authority Site Links
  • Getting EDU Links
  • Building links externally to you
  • SEO Strategy for Cleaning Up Links
  • Tips for Finding Links
  • Try a Link Discovery Tool
  • Tips for Finding Links
  • The Power of Internal Links
  • Internal Linking Strategies
  • HTML Sitemaps
  • XML Site Maps
  • Directory Style Sitemaps
  • No Follow Attribute
  • Absolute Versus Relative Links
  • How to Stay Out of Trouble with the Search Engines
  • Disavowing Links
  • Getting the Most Out of Your Blog
  • Blogging and SEO
  • Optimizing Your Blog Posts
  • WordPress and SEO
  • Tips For Increasing Your Chances For Popular Posts
  • Understanding the Value of Trackbacks
  • How to set up and use Trackbacks
  • Blog Resources
  • Blog Search Engines
  • Student Website Reviews
  • Questions and Answers

All New Search Engine Academy Training Announced
Day 3 – Advanced SEO Workshop

Advanced Keyword Research
Keyword Forensic Analysis
Other Advanced Keyword Research Tips
Semantic Search
Resource Links
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Understanding How To Take Advantage of Themes

 

 

  • Information Architecture
  • What is IA
  • Why Do IA
  • 4 I/A Categories
  • Labeling Systems
  • Global Navigation System
  • Local Navigation Systems
  • Contextual Navigation Links
  • Supplemental Navigation Systems
  • Site Search
  • Examples of Well Developed IA
  • Local SEO
  • Google’s Venice Update
  • Major Data Providers – Who powers whom?
  • How to Submit to Top Data Providers
  • About Universal Business Listing
  • Rating Local Search Factors
  • Business Listing Quality Guidelines
  • More Google Quality Guidelines
  • Google Local
  • Google Local – Photos, Videos and More
  • Video SEO
  • Optimizing Your Videos
  • Video SEO
  • Keywords for Video
  • Create a Video Sitemap
  • Video Distribution
  • Mobile Search and SEO
  • Mobile SEO Strategies
  • Duplicate Content Issues
  • Crawler and Indexing Issues
  • Student Website Reviews
  • Questions and Answers

Advanced Day 4 – Google Day – A Day Dedicated To All Things Google

  • Paid Search
  • Planning Your Paid Search Campaigns
  • Google Adwords
  • Google Display Ads
  • Personalization of Search
  • Google Plus
  • Google Authorship
  • Google Analytics Advanced for SEA
  • Google Webmaster Tools
  • Google Panda and Penguin Rollouts
  • Measuring What’s Important KPI’s
  • Advanced Google Analytics
  • Student Website Reviews
  • Questions and Answers

Day 5 – The Final Day of Advanced SEO

  • Competitive Intelligence for SEO
  • Why do CI for SEO?
  • More Reasons for CI
  • How to Do Competitive Intelligence Analysis for SEO
  • Off page Factors
  • How to Analyze What You Collect
  • Social Media and SEO
  • Social Media Platforms
  • Social Media Guidelines
  • Social Media and SEO
  • Measure Social Media Reach
  • Schema.org and SEO
  • Schema.org and Google
  • Schema.or Resources
  • 5 Schema.org Applications
  • Site Technical Issues
  • Diagnosing Problems
  • URL Canonicalization
  • 301 redirects
  • Crawler and Indexing issues
  • Source code Validation
  • Persuasive Copywriting for the Web
  • Anatomy of A Sales Letter
  • Components for Building Sales Copy by component
  • Examples by Category
  • Student Worksheets and Examples
  • The Power of Article Writing
  • Life After Google Panda Update
  • Guidance on Writing Quality Articles
  • Easy Ways To Find Markets For Your Articles
  • Creative Commons
  • Press Releases and SEO
  • Tips for Press Releases
  • 9 Reasons to Optimize Your Press Releases
  • Tips for Professional SEOs
  • New Customers the smartest Way
  • Build A Genuine Reputation Right Now
  • How To Convert Prospects to Clients by Establishing Credibility
  • Steps for Building Powerful Proposals
  • Building and Defining Your Business in the SEO Industry
  • Questions and Answers
  • Certification Exam

Where are the next SEO Mastery Workshops being conducted?

See a complete list of Search Engine Academy Locations and dates here.

 

 

 

 

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Filed Under: 301 Redirects, Adwords, Content Marketing, Duplicate Content, Events, Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools, Insights for Search, Link Building, Local Search, Mobile Marketing, News, Pay Per Click, PR Web, Press Releases, SEO Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

SEO Content Writing: Blogging Priorities 1 and 2

August 21, 2012 By + 3 Comments

SEO Content creation: it ain’t literature, that’s for sure.

(By the way, when I use the acronym “SEO” with content, you should probably read it like this: “Search Engine Optimized Content.”)

During our SEO workshops one of the reliable moments of moaning and groaning comes when I mention blogging.  I think people combine the collective disgust at the culture of narcissism (hey everyone, listen to me) with post-traumatic flashbacks to high school and college, and those memories of realizing that the due date for that long put-off 2,000 word essay was now only one sleepless, caffeinated, exhausting night away.

First let’s make sure we do a reality check.  Using a blog for SEO content writing is certainly not the same as writing literature.  My 16-year-old son, Nick, is a brilliant writer.   His heroes are Kerouak, Kafka, Steinbeck, Milton and the like.  But when it comes to blogging, his creative juices suddenly dry up.  I’ve tried to interest him in blogging for my business, and his eyes glaze over.  To him, blogging is simply not “writing.”

In order to succeed in the world of blogging, you first need to deal with it as a world separate and apart from traditional writing.  One of the reasons for this is the ephemeral nature of the medium.  I think deep down Milton knew he was writing for future generations.  A blog, like journalism, is rooted in the here and now.  In fact, from a business perspective, that’s the whole point.  The immediacy of blogs is the very thing that makes them desirable.

We’ve documented our blog posts being indexed and showing up in search results, sometimes for pretty highly trafficked terms, in as short as 5 minutes.  I kid you not.   That tells us that Google has a high sense of urgency about getting blog results in front of searchers.  Therefore…

Blog Writing Priority 1: Urgency is Job 1

I’m not talking about the sense of urgency you need to have about writing for the blog (although that is pretty important as well).  I’m referring to the nature of what you write about.  The way Google treats blogs, namely as Internet content that must be indexed quickly, helps inform our blog writing.  If you’re writing about some great feature of your best selling widget, and it’s a feature that’s been around for a number of years, you’ve chosen the wrong subject.

What if you have nothing urgent to write about?  Create something.  If your site is ecommerce, it could be a price reduction or new inventory.  If your site is informational, it could be the latest developments, however minor, in the area that your blog covers.  If it’s a company information site, it could be developments at your company.

Plan your marketing with this urgency in view, and with the idea that you will be integrating marketing with your blog content creation.

Leave Perfectionism for Your Novel

During a recent training one of my students asked me for a list of the stupid things that bloggers do to defeat their blog.  I fished around for a moment, and it wasn’t until later that I thought of one of the key mistakes: being a perfectionist.  Many blog authors are hindered by a desire to find the perfect subject, the perfect voice, the perfect timing, and the perfect prose.  In this case the perfect becomes the enemy of the good: they are so busy thinking about perfect that they end up frozen.  Creating a good blog post never happens.

I believe that often the perfectionism has another component as well: as long as we insist on doing things exactly write, it gives us an unassailable excuse to do nothing.

“Whew!”  This unconscious mindset exclaims, “Not enough time to write a ‘proper’ blog post (as the English might say), better put it off a bit longer.  Certainly I’ll have enough time to do it ‘right’ next week.”

Urgency requires a “good enough” approach to this whole exercise.

After all, this week’s blog post will be lining digital birdcages next week.  (And if you don’t understand that analogy, read a newspaper once in a while, will ya’?).

 

 

… more insightful thoughts should be imagined here …

At the Search Engine Academy, teaching you how to make your business blog useful to your website is part of what we do.  Check out our SEO Course Catalog for more information on our workshops and how you can attend.

 

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Filed Under: SEO, SEO Blogging Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Brainstorming – How Your Creativity Can Open Entirely New Opportunities For You

July 20, 2012 By + Leave a Comment 
While it's true that some people find some challenges tapping
into their own creative thinking,the good news is that no matter
where you are now, with a little practice literally anyone can
become more creative if they practice brainstorming. Whether you
are starting a new business or simply trying to be innovative, not
only can your flow of creative thinking be possible; it's nearly
guaranteed when you know how to do it tap into it. Here's the
critical element of realization and your key to becoming more
spontaneous and original. 

The truth is that you are always creating something. Maybe you
just don't feel creative enough sometimes, but when you really
think about it, some people tend to create their own hardships,
while others seem to know how to create abundance. 

The main thing to remember is that by the decisions and choices we choose to make in our lives,
we have created everything that is in your life, whether you think it's good or not. The secret
is to be purposeful in what you bring into your life. Everything in your life is not always the
result of your circumstances or surroundings. 

People today are quick to lay blame on anything, (so long as it's not their own selves.)
That's a pretty good way to stay stuck in one spot. You are responsible for what you choose
to believe. 

If it's not very pretty at the moment, then it's a simple matter of changing your
thoughts and beliefs to start attracting different results.Think the same way and make the same
choices usually will result in a similar behavior and ultimately similar results. Not happy with
the results? This is where you can choose to be different and learn to exercise your ability to
think creatively. Different thinking can produce varied behavior and totally different results.

The next logical question is how do you change your thoughts and beliefs so you can
start elevating your ability to render creative solutions? It will take conscious effort,
but over time and with practice your conscious mind will start programming your subconscious
mind, and that's when the real magic starts to happen. Suddenly you are not following the crowd. 

Suddenly your creative thought begins to shine and with experience you'll begin to
see some advantages.

What are the advantages for someone who can see things creatively and from a totally
different perspective. Heightened creativity for in your decision making often unlocks and
opense entirely new gateways of opportunity for you. Suddenly, instead of being faced with
the most familliar challenges your creative ability has paved the most direct route to what
felt only moments before, like a complex maze.
 Creativity opens up new gateways
Tips to help you on your road to creativity:

One of the best tips I can ever give someone who is having difficulty releasing
their creative trends is simply this. Find yourself a partner who you can brainstorm with. One
creative idea upon another creative thought forms tremendous creative trends, so long as both
partners remain respectful and try to build positively on one anothers ideas. In these
brainstorming times of idea building, there should never be any negative thinking allowed to be
expressed. 

There should never be a "bad idea." All ideas are good ideas and as you and your
partner fashion a new innovation, there needs to be total liberty to let the dialog flow.
Creative thinking is not usually "logical thinking" or analytical thinking. 

There should be no interuption based on some limitation or some fact being expressed
such as, "that would never work? or "we can't afford this - it would be to expensive." Those
types of comments only cut off your creative flow. When your brainstorming some new concept
or idea, let your logic accept that literally anything is possible, so as to maintain your
creative ebb and flow.

So many times when I have been working on behalf of a client or brainstorming for an
alternative solution to a traditional challenge, I've found that once the concept is
hammered out clearly and now I'm onto something different in approach, very often the logical
type challenges also are solved in time.  

Creating something new and original is all about having the right mindset and
focusing on the right things. You need to believe that you will ultimately be creative enough
to get all of your ducks in a row. Believing you "can" is not the same as believing you "will".
And "hoping" or having a sense of hope is not quite the same as "expecting". You have to believe
you will see your creative vision actually happen and you have to have confidence that it
shall be evidenced with a positive expectation. It's never a matter of whether of your
creativity will work well enough, but only a question of timing how soon it will arrive.

Remember for some people creativity seems harder than for others. But it is do
different than any other strength like a bicep muscle in your arm, the more you exercise it, the
stronger you will become. Your muscles grow strong by reason of use and so will your creative
ability. Regardless of what you are creating as the saying goes, practice - makes perfect.
See a previous post on Creativity and Keyword Research
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Filed Under: Misc, Rant Tagged With: , ,

Search Engine Academy News – Will New Domain Naming system to Shake Up Traditional Branding

June 15, 2012 By + Leave a Comment

This report is not so much about brainstorming or about SEO.

Applications for hundreds of “new generic top level domains” (such as the traditional .org .com and .net) are considered to be the most “sub-stantive changes” to the Web site naming system in all of Internet History, according to the Toronto Star Newspaper today.

According to this news report today, “at $185,000.00 per pop, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the California based regulator that policies the Web< said it received more than 1900 applications by the May 30th deadline.”

According to reports, some firms like Google said it applied for.google, docs.,lol, and .youtube.
American bankers Association had applied for a request for .bank, and for .insurance.

“The entire objective of any company going into a TLD is to create a money tree.
To create a billion-dollar domain baby” stated the report from naming specialist
Naseem Javed, the head of the Brampton-based ABC Namebank.

Where things may go from here, is anyone’s guess.

Can you see large firms trying to capture their brand in a new extension?
Suppose you were to acquire the extension .SEARS or . Babies or even a name extension like .Reviews?

Perhaps in the near future, it won’t be so much about the early part of the Domain,
but it’ll be more about what comes after the dot.

Let’s watch and see.

 

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Filed Under: Misc, News Tagged With: , , ,
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