Tag Archives: Jennifer Laycock

About 2121 days ago E-Commerce

Google’s Universal Search Format Impacts SEO

Google’s new universal search format may force you to change your business’ Web presence and marketing strategies. The format blends traditional Web results with news, maps, blogs, books, video, and other forms of content onto the main page, and could affect your business’ rankings. Google’s share of the search engine market was 51 percent in May, according to ComScore Networks, and many small and mid-size businesses depend on the search engine giant to drive customers to their sites. Search-engine marketing experts say Google’s changes will gradually compel businesses to diversify and freshen their online content, and to think about search-engine marketing in a slightly new light. The changes won’t be too difficult, experts say, and could help small and mid-size businesses increase their Web presence. Small and mid-size businesses “have the advantage of being potentially more nimble and open to emerging technologies and media outlets over bigger corporations,” says Web and search-engine expert Richard Walters of Mindspace, an advertising and public-relations agency in Tempe, Ariz. Reassessing how your website is found Google’s changes won’t wipe your business off the main page right away — if ever — search-engine marketing experts agree. But it may force small and mid-size businesses to become more sophisticated about search-engine optimization strategies, which can help your pages jump in the rankings but were generally a weak point for smaller businesses even before Google’s changes. “Maybe they’re getting their feet wet, but they haven’t dove completely into it,” says David Wallace, co-founder and CEO of SearchRank, a Phoenix-based search-engine marketing firm. “I would definitely say that there is probably a lot of room for growth there.” One basic search-engine optimization strategy is to include relevant, high-ranking keywords for your business in the webpage title and content. Search engines crawl and often pick up on pages with those keywords. The method will still apply to webpages, but other content such as images and video should also be identified with relevant keywords, according to experts. While most people didn’t know it, Google includes 14 separate search databases that enables individuals to search for specific content in images, books and other databases. The universal search format crawls for terms across Google’s various databases, rather than just webpages so it’s important for businesses to have several different forms of content such as blogs and video that can show up in search results. “It’s my belief that if anyone has any size of business … they should have a blog and it should be updated,” Wallace says. Developing multimedia and fresh content Businesses should begin developing multimedia and fresh content, experts advise, such as putting online videos that can pick up hits on YouTube. YouTube and Google Maps had higher traffic shortly after Google launched its new format, according to research by Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise, a search engine intelligence and marketing firm based in New York. Brick-and-mortar stores in particular need to be listed on Google Maps through Google’s local business center, experts say. They should also consider issuing company news releases or ramp up their publicity to get news-related hits. Search Engine Guide Editor Jennifer Laycock says that many companies are highly dependent on Google, but it shouldn’t be the only search engine that businesses target. She says Google’s new universal search format gives companies the opportunities to create content for specialized searches, or “vertical searches” as they are called in the search-engine industry. Laycock says that if you upload a video, for example, you may end up having two hits within YouTube as well as one video hit on Google’s main page. In Google’s old search format, your video would not have made it to the main page. “If small businesses figure out how to play those verticals, they’re actually in a better position than they are now,” she says.

About 2302 days ago Search Engine Optimization

How to Learn Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) is fast becoming a must-have body of knowledge for business owners. Nearly 91 percent of all Internet users resort to a search engine to find information, according to a recent survey by the non-profit Pew Internet and American Life Project. The question is: how easily can they find your business? You already could be making costly mistakes, such as a home page that is almost all images and little text, causing your site to have unnecessarily low rankings and little traffic. Or worse, you could be using hidden text and winding up with an every more onerous problem because some search engines ban sites that use tricks to improve rankings. Whether you are a do-it-yourselfer or you use an outside SEO firm, the more you know the more effective and successful your business can be online. I’ve assembled the five best categories of resources for business owners to learn about SEO and search marketing. To help with this article, I interviewed Jennifer Laycock, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Guide, a website designed specifically for business owners and entrepreneurs.  Conferences and seminars Attending search engine conferences is the fastest way to learn because it immerses you in the subject. When you are starting out, choose events designed to give well-rounded instruction in basic principles, such as Jill Whalen’s High Rankings seminars. Don’t go to advanced events intended for industry experts until you first learn the basics — trust me, you will just feel frustrated.  However, there is one good reason for a newbie to attend events targeting industry professionals, such as Search Engine Strategies conferences.  That’s to find and interview SEO vendors.  At no other venue will you find so many search professionals in one place at one time.  Books There are a few excellent eBooks — downloadable PDF documents — suitable for beginners.  The best eBooks typically come with a package of extras, such as lifetime updates, private forums, sometimes even money-back guarantees.  Aaron Wall’s SEO Book  is widely acknowledged as one of the best. Laycock’s own Small Business Guide to Search Engine Marketing is another I would recommend, because it focuses on SEO from the perspective of a business owner who is not a search expert.  Printed books, another possibility, are less expensive ($15 -$30 for printed books versus $75 – $100 for eBooks). The disadvantage is that printed books can get out of date quickly because search constantly changes. Tactics accepted several years ago, such as doorway pages, today may get your site dropped by search engines. If you opt for a printed book, make sure it is reasonably recent. Newsletters and blogs One of the great things about the Web today is that we are lucky to have so many excellent free newsletters and blogs on search.  Among newsletters, Jill Whalen’s High Rankings is notable, because she answers real-life questions from readers.  Among blogs designed for business owners, a particularly helpful one is Small Business SEM.  Carston Cumbrowski also has a helpful page of resources for SEO beginners. Search Engine Land  featuring search guru Danny Sullivan, is a good one to add to your reading list later on as your knowledge builds. It is industry focused, but has the advantage of experts who write on specific topics such as link-building and contextual advertising — not to mention its excellent blogroll of search sites to explore. Discussion forums As you begin to learn some of the basics of SEO, you will have questions.  Head to discussion forums to get answers.  Discussion forums are excellent sounding boards to bounce ideas off of others. Try Webmaster World and Digital Point Forums. When you first approach a new discussion forum, read and observe for a while before jumping in to participate.  Every forum has a “personality” all its own — make sure you feel comfortable.  Observing also helps you learn which participants’ advice to trust. Some participants are more knowledgeable than others. Interactive tools No article on search for newbies would be complete without mentioning some of the excellent free or low-cost tools available.  I have learned a great deal simply through using tools such as: WordTracker keyword tool — Using relevant keywords in your site content and when purchasing search ads can make all the difference in attracting visitors who actually buy. You may already know the obvious keywords, but WordTracker helps you broaden your choices to identify non-obvious terms. A free trial or a single day’s subscription costs around $8. Analytics programs — These help you understand which parts of your site visitors use most, such as which navigation links they click on most. Armed with that knowledge, you can make changes to your site to emphasize the most important elements to increase sales and newsletter signups. Google Analytics is a robust free analytics tool.  For those who run Google AdWords campaigns and do not like the idea of giving sensitive site data to the same company you purchase ads from, ClickTracks is an alternative.  ClickTracks offers a free version called ClickTracks Appetizer. SEO Moz page strength tool — This interactive tool gives you a quick snapshot of some of the factors search engines consider when determining site rankings.  Don’t take it as the complete word on ranking factors, but do have fun with it.   Anita Campbell is a writer, speaker and radio talk show host who closely follows trends in the small business market at her site, Small Business Trends.

About 2302 days ago Web Analytics

How to Learn Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) is fast becoming a must-have body of knowledge for business owners. Nearly 91 percent of all Internet users resort to a search engine to find information, according to a recent survey by the non-profit Pew Internet and American Life Project. The question is: how easily can they find your business? You already could be making costly mistakes, such as a home page that is almost all images and little text, causing your site to have unnecessarily low rankings and little traffic. Or worse, you could be using hidden text and winding up with an every more onerous problem because some search engines ban sites that use tricks to improve rankings. Whether you are a do-it-yourselfer or you use an outside SEO firm, the more you know the more effective and successful your business can be online. I’ve assembled the five best categories of resources for business owners to learn about SEO and search marketing. To help with this article, I interviewed Jennifer Laycock, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Guide, a website designed specifically for business owners and entrepreneurs.  Conferences and seminars Attending search engine conferences is the fastest way to learn because it immerses you in the subject. When you are starting out, choose events designed to give well-rounded instruction in basic principles, such as Jill Whalen’s High Rankings seminars. Don’t go to advanced events intended for industry experts until you first learn the basics — trust me, you will just feel frustrated.  However, there is one good reason for a newbie to attend events targeting industry professionals, such as Search Engine Strategies conferences.  That’s to find and interview SEO vendors.  At no other venue will you find so many search professionals in one place at one time.  Books There are a few excellent eBooks — downloadable PDF documents — suitable for beginners.  The best eBooks typically come with a package of extras, such as lifetime updates, private forums, sometimes even money-back guarantees.  Aaron Wall’s SEO Book  is widely acknowledged as one of the best. Laycock’s own Small Business Guide to Search Engine Marketing is another I would recommend, because it focuses on SEO from the perspective of a business owner who is not a search expert.  Printed books, another possibility, are less expensive ($15 -$30 for printed books versus $75 – $100 for eBooks). The disadvantage is that printed books can get out of date quickly because search constantly changes. Tactics accepted several years ago, such as doorway pages, today may get your site dropped by search engines. If you opt for a printed book, make sure it is reasonably recent. Newsletters and blogs One of the great things about the Web today is that we are lucky to have so many excellent free newsletters and blogs on search.  Among newsletters, Jill Whalen’s High Rankings is notable, because she answers real-life questions from readers.  Among blogs designed for business owners, a particularly helpful one is Small Business SEM.  Carston Cumbrowski also has a helpful page of resources for SEO beginners. Search Engine Land  featuring search guru Danny Sullivan, is a good one to add to your reading list later on as your knowledge builds. It is industry focused, but has the advantage of experts who write on specific topics such as link-building and contextual advertising — not to mention its excellent blogroll of search sites to explore. Discussion forums As you begin to learn some of the basics of SEO, you will have questions.  Head to discussion forums to get answers.  Discussion forums are excellent sounding boards to bounce ideas off of others. Try Webmaster World and Digital Point Forums. When you first approach a new discussion forum, read and observe for a while before jumping in to participate.  Every forum has a “personality” all its own — make sure you feel comfortable.  Observing also helps you learn which participants’ advice to trust. Some participants are more knowledgeable than others. Interactive tools No article on search for newbies would be complete without mentioning some of the excellent free or low-cost tools available.  I have learned a great deal simply through using tools such as: WordTracker keyword tool — Using relevant keywords in your site content and when purchasing search ads can make all the difference in attracting visitors who actually buy. You may already know the obvious keywords, but WordTracker helps you broaden your choices to identify non-obvious terms. A free trial or a single day’s subscription costs around $8. Analytics programs — These help you understand which parts of your site visitors use most, such as which navigation links they click on most. Armed with that knowledge, you can make changes to your site to emphasize the most important elements to increase sales and newsletter signups. Google Analytics is a robust free analytics tool.  For those who run Google AdWords campaigns and do not like the idea of giving sensitive site data to the same company you purchase ads from, ClickTracks is an alternative.  ClickTracks offers a free version called ClickTracks Appetizer. SEO Moz page strength tool — This interactive tool gives you a quick snapshot of some of the factors search engines consider when determining site rankings.  Don’t take it as the complete word on ranking factors, but do have fun with it.   Anita Campbell is a writer, speaker and radio talk show host who closely follows trends in the small business market at her site, Small Business Trends.

About 2364 days ago E-Commerce

Online Customer Surveys for Small Business

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Online customer surveys have boomed over the past five years as a host of new services has made it easier than ever for small and mid-sized businesses to conduct their own market research. But business leaders need to evaluate the pros and cons of online surveys before basing their business decisions on the results. In a recent study, Nancy Ellen Kiernan, a sociologist at Pennsylvania State University, compared the response rates of Web-based surveys to traditional mail-in surveys. “Among those participants successfully solicited by e-mail, Web survey participants were more likely to respond (95 percent) than mail survey participants (79 percent),” Kiernan says in the study. She also found that Web respondents gave longer responses to open-ended questions. However, experts warn not to consider Web-based surveys an exact science. “In my experience, online surveys tend to be a bit skewed to one extreme or the other as those that are most pleased or most displeased with a product are the most likely to respond,” says Jennifer Laycock, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Guide, a website that tracks Internet research. “Surveys that are offered and tied to an incentive, like ‘do this survey, get a discount,’ also tend to be inaccurate because people will simply fill out whatever answers just to get to the discount.” That said, online surveys are readily accessible to the small business market. They are inexpensive and often provide business leaders with market research insights that they wouldn’t otherwise have. The following are some Web-based survey services if your company does opt to go this route. Online survey services Zoomerang Claiming 800,000 customers, Zoomerang is perhaps the largest survey program. The free Zoomerang Basic allows 100 survey questions to an unlimited number of respondents, though the online results are only available for 10 days. Aside from text, there is limited survey modification. Zoomerang zPro allows unlimited survey questions, downloadable survey results and cross-tabulation. Zoomerang zPro costs $75/month or $599 annually. Advanced programs include Zoomerang Sample (find appropriate survey respondents), Zoomerang Online Focus (organize focus groups) and Zoomerang Services (general consulting). Costs vary based on organization size and needs, though discounts are given to non-profits. EZquestionnaire EZquestionnaire has fewer bells-and-whistles than other survey companies, but comes at an affordable price. The free basic membership, similar to Zoomerang, allows you to send out surveys, albeit without corporate logos, highly modified content or tech support. The Premium individual membership is much more robust offering survey modification, real-time reports and downloadable answer data. Premium individual membership is $10 per month. Finally, the company’s corporate and non-profit memberships are identical except in price. Corporate and non-profit membership allow distribution of press releases and tailored websites. Corporate membership is $25 to $50 per month, while non-profit membership is $15 per month. Key Survey Key Survey is a more expensive, although more thorough solution. It offers basic, premium and professional models on one-year terms. Depending on your company size, the basic model may be more than enough to cover the bases. It can handle up to 2,000 respondents, unlimited surveys and offers both pre-rendered templates and do-it-yourself options. The premium model offers data cross-tabulation, e-mail reminders and filtered reports, while the professional level model features multilingual surveys and direct SPSS compatibility. Annually, the masic model costs $799, premium is $1,950, and professional is $3,950. Survey Monkey Like EZquestionnaire, Survey Monkey is an affordable tool for basic survey needs. Basic and professional subscriptions are available. The basic subscription allows 10 questions and 100 responses per survey, but questionnaires can be visually modified and pop-up invitations can be used to attract respondents. Specific results can be analyzed through a filter or downloaded for later viewing. The professional subscription is the same as the basic subscription, but allows unlimited questions and responses. The basic subscription is free and the professional subscription costs $19.95 per month.

About 2425 days ago Computer Security

Market Research: Bloggers and Your Business

As of April 2006,  the blog search engine Technorati reported that there were more than 35 million blogs. The so-called blogosphere was increasing at such a rate that a new blog was being created every second. Considering that word of mouth is the best advertising, understanding and using the blogosphere effectively can be a key marketing strategy. Why blogs are important “Blogs tend to move at a faster pace and be more informal in tone, so you’re more likely to pick up conversation about a new product type or need on a blog than on a standard website,” says Jennifer Laycock, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Guide. “You have more immediate access to what is being talked about.” Consumer-generated media (CGM) includes online forums, blogs, message boards, opinions and reviews, and any other public content contributed by consumers. A 2004 Pew Internet study found that “more than 53 million American adults or 44 percent of adult Internet users have used the Internet to publish their thoughts, respond to others, post pictures, share files or otherwise contribute to the explosion of content available online.” “The power shift from media institutions to consumer communities means that marketers must track a diverse and growing range of influential voices,” says Peter Kim, an analyst with Forrester Research, the Cambridge, Mass. research firm. Tracking consumer generated media There are two ways to track CGM: in-house or outsourcing. “Checking out a blog search engine like Technorati,  BlogPulse or Ask.com’s Blog Search can be a great way to see if people are talking about something new,” Laycock says. However, experts warn that doing a Web search isn’t the most time-efficient nor reliable approach. It can be tough to use blogs to gauge the potential sales volume or sales cost other than to get a general idea of interest in a product, they say. Laycock recommends doing sneak peaks or products previews with bloggers. Then it’s simply a matter of watching the blog responses. There are also several companies that offer outsourcing CGM gathering and analysis. Forrester considers Nielsen BuzzMetrics and Cymfony the best of the bunch. A recent report cites Nielsen BuzzMetrics the leader in specific consumer-generated media, such as blogs, while Cymfony is better at analyzing multiple data sources including blogs. According to Kim, Web aggregators/brand monitoring firms do the following: Data collection: video, audio and/or text from media consumer and/or traditionally generated Information processing: filtering the compiled data, classify and tag the pertinent content Data analysis: focus on client requirements and specific questions. Many services stop here Insight delivery: continued updates on new data and analysis via email or another online interface He recommends going to a brand-monitoring service to get the job done. “Tools like Google’s Blog Search, Alerts, and Trends enable marketers to monitor their brand ad hoc and for free,” Kim says. “But the time required to use these tools is prohibitive, and they do not provide comprehensive coverage of data sources, particularly mainstream media.”

About 2425 days ago E-Commerce

Search Engine Screw Ups

The Web offers an awesome marketing advantage for small and medium-sized businesses — providing you don’t bungle the art of getting your website to show up under the right search engine keywords and categories. Google alone handles 91 million queries per month, according to the trade publication Search Engine Watch. That gives a business millions of opportunities to get your products and services in front of potential customers. However, opportunities don’t matter if the company website isn’t organized properly. “Without careful planning, I have personally seen businesses spend thousands or millions of dollars in unnecessary advertising expenses,” says Shari Thurow, head of Web design firm Grantastic Designs, of Carpentersville, Ill. and author of the upcoming book Search Engine Visibility. Microsoft Online claims 42 to 86 percent of Internet users rely each day on search engines and directories to find websites. And if you happen to be making the following mistakes, potential customers won’t be finding your business online anytime soon. Screw up #1: I’ll think about Web search optimization later The more frequent mistake that companies make when opening for business online is not planning ahead of time for search engine optimization, the art of having your website show up under certain keyword and category searches, experts say. Thurow says poor site planning means: The content management system isn’t search-engine friendly. The content itself contains few or no accessible keyword phrases. The content is mostly image or video-based, meaning no text for search engines. “Search engine optimization, as an online marketing strategy, has existed for over 10 years, yet businesses still have the attitude, ‘Build my site first, then optimize it for the commercial Web search engines,’” Thurow says. With a poorly planned site, she says,  “Search engine advertising will then be necessary for any type of search engine visibility.” That means paying for something that should be for free. Screw up #2: Trusting miracle workers and not doing your homework Some companies claiming to be search engine experts offer pie-in-the-sky results for a nominal fee. Their advertising pitches go like this — “Move up in Google rankings” and “Get thousands of links.” Their services come with a fee, of course, but some of their tactics could lead your company to be bounced off search engines if you’re not careful. On one hand, Web optimization is something that everyone is doing. There are all sorts of programming tricks and techniques that can fool the search engines into moving a webpage up in the rankings. On the other hand, some of the tricks — such as creating off-topic links to get more traffic, keyword spamming, hidden text, interlinking — are considered “black hat” tactics that can get a site expelled from certain search engines. “Any search marketing firm that gives these sales pitches are called ‘black-hat’ search engine marketers, and this group does not follow all of the terms and conditions set forth by the search engines,” Thurow says. “By not following search engine guidelines, websites get penalized or completely removed from a search engine index. I see it happen all of the time. Believe me, it is no easy process to get a site unbanned.” Screw up #3: If you want to do it yourself, do the research In the world of entrepreneurs, many times marketing becomes a do-it-yourself thing. It may be tempting to put together a website on your own with an off-the-shelf Web publishing program. While it may work as a starting point, consider hiring (or better yet, bartering) with someone who knows the ins-and-outs of making a website search-engine friendly. Or plan on doing some research. A variety of resources exist now that can give you the low-down on certain techniques to try to improve your rankings. Many categories are broken down by the different search engines. Recommended resources include: the book Google Power by Chris Sherman and the websites Search Engine Watch and Search Engine Guide. Screw  up #4: Not knowing where your customer is coming from Some entrepreneurs just type in their product category into Google or their favorite search engine to better know their market. Then they use that information to target keywords or categories for search engine optimization. Jennifer Laycock, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Guide, says, “The problem with this is that it doesn’t really cover the full scope of possibilities.” Laycock recommends going a step further and doing keyword research, a process that allows you to tap into the databases of searches consumers are conducting on the major search engines. You can then find out what unusual searches actually lead to your site  – and which natural searches are leading to your competitors. Some keyword research services are Word Tracker and Trillian’s Keyword Discovery. Screw up #5: Assuming everyone just uses Google Google may seem like the end-all, but experts say optimizing your website for other search engines, such as MSN Search and Ask.com, is just as important. In fact, some argue that Yahoo! gets better search results and follow-through from consumers. Determine what search engine consumers are using to get to your website and plan accordingly. Even the most basic site tracking software can tell you how customers are linking to your page. “Without analytics software,” Thurow says, “website owners are just guessing.”

About 2425 days ago E-Commerce

Using the Web for Market Research

Each year, about 600,000 new businesses are started in the United States, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. And last year the SBA backed 100,197 loans to businesses adding up to $19 million in 2005 — a record amount. It sounds like a wonderful time to start your next business, but more loans available also could mean more competition. It is equally important to make sure your idea is original and solid. After all, you have to pay the money back. Here are some smart ways you can research with your fingers. Use Keyword Search A step beyond doing a simple Web search, keyword search actually tracks what people are looking for most using Google, Yahoo! and similar engines. You can type in your business product or service and gauge the public interest in finding it. Keyword search is handy for two reasons. “First, you’re going to be reminded of product niches that you might not of thought of.” says Jennifer Laycock, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Guide, an online guide to search engines, portals and directories. For instance, typing in “babysitting services” may also give the search frequency for “animal sitting services.” “Second, these services will also give you a guesstimate of how many existing sites already use that phrase,” Laycock continues. “How many existing sites already offer that product.” She says it’s not uncommon for certain keywords to be heavily searched for, but have few site offerings. “In other words, you can find a hole in the market,” she says. WordTracker and Trellian’s Keyword Discovery are popular keyword search engines. Find competitor links If you are going to use a traditional search engine to test business ideas, use it to find competitor links. For instance, typing “link:www.competitor.com” into Google will tell how many sites link to the website. “It is a great way to see a competitor’s link development and PR campaigns,” says Shari Thurow, Web expert and author of the upcoming book Search Engine Visibility. “Is the competitor promoting a product or service similar to your own? Maybe you can get publicity because you have a new or better product.” Read blogs The newest trend, personal, business and critic blogs are updated much faster than traditional websites — and can be another gauge of public opinion. You can search them by using Technorati, Blogpulse or Ask.com’s Block Search. “Blogs tend to move at a faster pace and be more informal in tone, so you’re more likely to pick up conversation about a new product type or need on a blog than on a standard web site,” Laycock says. Conduct online surveys Online surveys are yet another way to gauge public opinion. Surveys have traditionally been conducted to help do market research about whether an idea or a product will be appealing to consumers. The Internet actually provides a less expensive alternative to in-person surveys or telephone research. Now many companies offer to conduct online research for you or give your company the tools to carry out your own surveying. Some online survey companies include EZquestionnaire, KeySurvey, and WebSurveyor.