When faced with creating a conversion-focused SEO landing page, what should our copy focus on? There are so many things we can do -- so many directions we can go -- that it becomes hard to know what to choose. Do I go with statistics or stories? Facts or feelings? Data or discounts? If one of these is good, isn’t a mix of all of them better? Blending Content Types Doesn't Work We know we're blending when we start adding adjectives to our sentences. "Our solution is the most cost-effective, easy-to-use, colorful, highest-intensity, waterproof, process-oriented available on the mark [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Search & Conversion | Search Marketing: Landing Pages | SEO: Writing & Body Copy

You may have heard that content is king, but the truth is that informational content is king. It's estimated that approximately 50-80% of search queries are informational in nature (pdf). Most websites have very little informational content on them, preferring instead to focus on driving a conversion. These websites are missing an excellent opportunity to capture search market share. Ratios of Informational Content In previous articles, I've written about the importance of theming content -- developing a strategy that truly plays to your customers' search intent. But usually, very little [...]

Related Topics: Advanced | Channel: SEO | How To | How To: SEO | Keywords & Content | SEO: Writing & Body Copy

It's been about two months since Google launched a "news keywords" meta tag for news publishers. How's it going? Why didn't Google the standard meta keywords tag? The company's not saying, but it did shed a little more light on how to use the tag. Google launched the news keywords tag in September, designed as a way for news publishers to work around the fact that often the key terms they want their stories to be found for don't make it into the story headlines. The primary reason for this are two-fold. First, it can sometimes be awkward or make a headline lengthy to ensure the most rele [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: Analysis | Google: News | Google: News Keywords Tag | Google: SEO | SEO: Writing & Body Copy | Top News

Grab your flux capacitor and fire up the Delorean, folks. We're going back to the future: Meta keywords are back. Well, technically, it's not the same meta keywords tag that died years ago for traditional SEO purposes. No, it's a new news_keywords metatag that Google just announced today and only works for news publishers that are sources in Google News. The new metatag essentially gives publishers some freedom to be more creative in their headlines and article copy, and not have to worry about cramming keywords in everything they publish. Here's a quick explanation from Google News P [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: News | Google: News Keywords Tag | Google: SEO | SEO: General | SEO: Writing & Body Copy | Top News

Often when I complete a keyword research project for a client, they ask me about keywords I may not have included, or they want to know what the relative competition on the keywords looks like. This happens often enough that I thought I would remind everyone that while research for SEO and PPC can go hand in hand, they’re actually very different. First, think about what your goals are with each medium. What are you trying to do, and what constitutes success in that area? Next, think about how the keywords will be used. Where, when, how often? Finally, consider what your margin for erro [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: SEO | How To: PPC | How To: SEO | Keywords & Content | Microsoft: Bing SEO | Search Marketing: Search Term Research | SEO: Writing & Body Copy | Yahoo: SEO

As part of a site audit special series, we're going to review an interesting website, Bank Information Center (BIC). BIC is a non-profit organization that does some very cool things but, like most non-profits, hasn’t updated their website for many years. Needless to say, they have almost no Internet marketing or SEO strategy which led them to ask for help by submitting their site for this series. In this post, I’m going to break down: Who the business is and what they do First Impressions: Overall analysis of website look, feel, targeting and usability Second Impressions: [...]

Related Topics: Beginner | Channel: SEO | Features | Features: Site Audits | How To | How To: SEO | SEO - Search Engine Optimization | SEO: General | SEO: Titles & Descriptions | SEO: Writing & Body Copy

How does content help with SEO efforts? The folks at Brafton have produced a "Why Content For SEO" infographic with lots of stats and information about the topic that you might find interesting: Want the infographic for yourself? You'll find it here: Infographic: Why Content for SEO? [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: General | Infographics | SEO: Writing & Body Copy

One of the major obstacles marketers face, particularly with B2B search engine marketing, is the availability of content to support keyword initiatives. While we realize the importance of new content, the demand for time and resources will always be tested. The key to success: don't try to reinvent the wheel every time new content is required. In this article, we'll explore several areas of content creation and distribution which can assist in creating effective B2B content marketing strategies and support search engine optimization initiatives. The Core Foundation: Value Extraction Many [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Beginner | Channel: SEO | How To | How To: SEO | SEO: Writing & Body Copy

Oh, that this weren't true. Last week, Yahoo made news by disclosing that it had quietly dropped support for the meta keywords tag. As a long time hater of that tag and the insane questions it has produced, I was thrilled! But today, I see conclusively that Yahoo still supports the tag. The test was simple. I placed a unique word in the meta keywords tag on the home page of Search Engine Land. This word -- xcvteuflsowkldlslkslklsk -- generated no results on Yahoo when I looked earlier this week. Today, when I searched, it brought back the Search Engine Land home page. Thus, Yahoo indeed ind [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: General | Microsoft: Bing SEO | SEO: Tagging | SEO: Titles & Descriptions | SEO: Writing & Body Copy | Top News | Yahoo: SEO

And then there were none. Yahoo has long been the only major search engine that supported the meta keywords tag. However, the search engine revealed today that like the other majors, it no longer supports it. The news came during the Ask The Search Engines session at SMX East in New York today. The search engines were all asked about their support of the tag. Moderator Danny Sullivan noted that only Yahoo provided support of the tag -- prompting Cris Pierry, senior director of search at Yahoo, to announce that support actually had been ended unannounced "several" months ago. Bing doesn't [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | SEO: General | SEO: Tagging | SEO: Titles & Descriptions | SEO: Writing & Body Copy | Top News | Yahoo: SEO

In the past, SEO success was measured by rankings of target keywords; then the focus moved to traffic; today we have moved into the bottom-line era: organic traffic should be measured by its impact on revenue. This post is based on a presentation delivered at eMetrics San Jose 2009. It is about ways to integrate and improve SEO and website usability (using web analytics) and create a synergy that will improve the conversion rates of websites. Measuring SEO success using rankings is out-of-date: rankings fluctuate significantly and do not show any improvement on the website success. Traffic [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | How To: SEO | SEO: Writing & Body Copy

In part 1 of What SEO/SEM Professionals Should Know About Website Usability, usability experts Peter Morville and Susan Weinschenk answered the question, "What should SEO professionals know about usability?" For this installment, website usability guru Jakob Nielsen and Kim Krause Berg share their observations and perspectives. Enjoy! Jakob Nielsen's formula for website success "The main thing SEO professionals should remember about Web usability is the formula for website success," said Jakob Nielsen, Principal at Nielsen Norman Group. What's the formula? B = V x C x L Where: B = am [...]

Related Topics: All Things SEO | Channel: SEO | SEO: Writing & Body Copy

One of the biggest challenges B2B clients grapple with is content creation. Developing material that is fresh, relevant, and keeps users coming back—while also being SEO-friendly—can be difficult. This is a problem. Fortunately though, there’s an easy and effective solution. And it’s closer than you might think. The situation For the most part, B2B organizations struggle with content development for one reason, and it’s not because they don’t have anything to say. Rather, the problem can be attributed to staffing, or a lack thereof, as content development typi [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: SEO | SEO: Writing & Body Copy

Landing pages are an important tool in any online marketing campaign. They are one of the best ways to convert web clicks into clients, and can help to maximize your online performance. Here are some tips for getting started and building an effective landing page that meets the needs of your clients. What is a landing page? A landing page is a web page that a visitor reaches after clicking an online ad or a link, and contains detailed information about the specific product or service that is mentioned. The landing page should be considered part of the marketing campaign and shoul [...]

Related Topics: Back To Basics | Channel: Analytics | Search Marketing: Landing Pages | SEO: Writing & Body Copy

The main problem with marketing is it's too much marketing and not enough problem—your customer's problem. Too often, we focus on our product instead of what our customer needs. Instead of trumpeting how great our products are, the Internet rewards companies that let their customers come to them. And just how do you let your customers come to you? Search marketing is a good place to start. Some of the most successful search marketers know how to focus on the customer's problem to allow customers to come to them. Consider an example. You've just been named the product manager for [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Search Marketing: General | SEO: Writing & Body Copy

In part 2 of our 3-part series, today's infographic details an essential element of keyword research: exploring conversations that are happening on the web. By combing through competitive and industry websites, relevant blog postings, and popular tag sites, new phrases are discovered and search frequencies can be determined. Graphic by Elliance, an eMarketing firm specializing in results-driven search engine marketing, web site design, and outbound eMarketing campaigns. The firm is the creator of the ennect online marketing toolkit. The Search Illustrated column appears Tuesdays at Sear [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Infographics | Search Illustrated | Search Marketing: Search Term Research | SEO: Writing & Body Copy

Thorough keyword research, done with the website's goals in mind, is critical for a successful search marketing campaign. In part 1 of a short series dedicated to keyword research, today's infographic explores the first—and arguably most important—step in the process: thinking like the customer. Graphic by Elliance, an eMarketing firm specializing in results-driven search engine marketing, web site design, and outbound eMarketing campaigns. The firm is the creator of the ennect online marketing toolkit. The Search Illustrated column appears Tuesdays at Search Engine Land. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Infographics | Search Illustrated | Search Marketing: Search Term Research | SEO: Writing & Body Copy

If there's anything I particularly hate when it comes to SEO, it's the meta keywords tag. I so wish it had never been invented. It's practically useless, yet people still obsess over it. In this article, I'll explain more about why you shouldn't worry about it except perhaps for misspellings, as well as which search engines support it. The meta keywords tag is one of several of meta tags that you can insert into your web pages to provide search engines with information about your pages that isn't visible on the page itself. For example, my Meta Robots Tag 101: Blocking Spiders, Cached Pages [...]

Related Topics: Ask: SEO | Channel: SEO | Features: General | Google: SEO | How To: SEO | Microsoft: Bing SEO | SEO: Flash | SEO: General | SEO: Tagging | SEO: Writing & Body Copy | Yahoo: SEO

Before November of 2003 it was easy to rank well in Google for just about anything just by using the keywords in your anchor text and plastering the term everywhere in your page copy. I appreciate that, knowing that back then I ranked in Google's top 10 results for search engine marketing without knowing much about the topic. As time passed it became clear that Google began to look for natural and unnatural patterns, and what I was doing did not fit the mold. In a recent 100% Organic column, Jill Whalen wrote you can't OVER optimize, which is true, but what put you at the top of the search [...]

Related Topics: All Things SEO | Channel: SEO | SEO: Writing & Body Copy

I am a Wikipedia administrator, and I specialize in complex investigations. When Jonathan Hochman suggested I write an article for Search Engine Land, he mentioned that this publication and its readers regard Wikipedia as a search engine. It probably comes as no surprise that my spine stiffens at that concept, but media professionals and Wikipedia volunteers seldom understand each other. So I'll illustrate my perspective with an example: let's have a look at some politicians. I cite this instance because it was not one of the cases I handled and it has already been in the news. On Janu [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Search & Social | Search Engines: Wikipedia | SEO: Writing & Body Copy | Social Media Marketing