Ramanathan V. Guha of Google announced on 8 November that, effective immediately, e-commerce schemas from the GoodRelations project have been integrated into schema.org. This vastly increases the number of schema.org classes and properties available for e-commerce websites. Put another way, this means that webmasters can now provide Google, Bing, Yahoo and Yandex with much more granular […]
With the introduction of the schema.org vocabulary, much attention has been focused on the benefits of employing structured data for improved visibility in the search engines. The mostly widely cited and easily verifiable of these benefits is the generation of rich snippets: a specially formatted search result block that includes information specific to the type […]
Many marketers start their conversion optimization efforts by looking at the behavior of a visitor once they arrive on a website. Which buttons are effective in attracting clicks? What type of product images encourage cart additions? What messaging seems to work on a particular landing page? But a journey down the conversion funnel always starts […]
In the vast majority of cases, the path to a conversion starts with the click a of button. The most compelling offer in the world will not result in a website goal being completed unless you can successfully entice a visitor to hover over a button and tap their mouse. Accordingly, the biggest single thing […]
The bedrock of conversion rate improvement is testing. However, testing is almost always easier said than done. You might lack the technical or executive support to implement a test program. A test or series of tests might already be in the works, but you’re sitting on your hands while the data is being collected. What […]
When formulating strategies and tactics for organic search, some of the most difficult questions that arise are related to conversion of organic search traffic. Are you targeting keywords that will bring not only traffic, but converting traffic, to your site? Is your page meta data optimized not only for high rankings, but for high clickthrough […]
Because of its intrinsic relationship with the Open Graph protocol, there’s even more compelling reasons to use the Facebook like button than to use the official Tweet button. Like the Tweet button, the Like button is easy to install, and is highly standardized. Furthermore, the Like button is tied directly to Facebook’s analytics platform, Insights, […]
Where the standard Tweet button gives you little control over the button’s appearance, functionality or call-to-action (you can Tweet, Tweet or Tweet) you have virtually unlimited options when encouraging users to follow you on Twitter. This is because the following action takes place on Twitter itself, rather than on your website: you’re essentially encouraging a […]
Whereas Twitter direct follow buttons are not easy to implement, Facebook makes it simple to “Like” a Page on Facebook (i.e., to become a “fan” of the person or organization represented by that Facebook Page) without actually needing to visit Facebook. The alternate method of enticing visitors to become fans is simply to link to […]
The official tweet button from Twitter is easy to implement, aggregates direct tweets and retweets in its counter, and includes a mechanism to encourage following (discussed below). These features almost certainly outweigh the slender benefits of employing third-party tweeting tools (the main benefit being more flexibility in styling the tweet button’s appearance). There are a […]
When you successfully encourage a visitor to share content they discover on your website, that action strongly recommends your website to that visitor’s friends, extends its reach, and increases its visibility in the search engines. That same visitor may also be persuaded to make a long-term connection with you or your business, forging an incredibly […]
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single website in possession of good traffic must be in want of conversion events. As much as this is a dreadful hack of the famous opening line to Pride and Prejudice — it is sadly, a truth not universally acknowledged among site owners. Even worse, large numbers […]
Just when I thought I was in-house, I pulled myself out. After five years working continuously and exclusively as an in-house SEO, I have decided to cast my lot with the hoards of independent consultants and contractors out there. This decision has caused me to reflect on the relative benefits and drawbacks of life as […]
One of the most unpleasant situations an in-house SEO can face is a major search engine algorithm change that results in a massive downward shift in rankings. Some webmasters have reported search engine traffic losses of up to 90% as a result of Google’s “Mayday” update, and similar catastrophes have been attached to every algorithm […]
Nothing is more certain in the world of SEO than the fact that things will change over time. Rankings, search traffic, search algorithms and your website’s structure and content are all mutable. In order to maximize the value of your optimization efforts, it is important to know not only the nature of any given change, […]
Brent D. Payne is the SEO Director at Tribune Company, whose properties include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Baltimore Sun. In one form or another, Brent has been engaged in search engine marketing for over a decade. He’s also a well-known name in the SEO community, with many speaking appearances augmented by an […]
Hiring a search professional for an in-house role can be a daunting task. SEO as a profession lacks a large, experienced talent pool, and it is especially rare to find good search marketers with in-house experience. However, an individual with the right personality, skills and background can make a great addition to your team, even […]
What is the hardest task in search engine optimization? Whether the question is asked in a formal poll, on an online forum or over a cup of coffee, the answer most commonly given is “link building.” With good reason: an external link, by definition, is something outside an SEOs immediate realm of control. External link […]
A change in information architecture (IA) can make or break your in-house SEO program . A successful IA makeover can open up a window to previously unimagined search engine domination, or it can see years of hard SEO work evaporate in the fluttering of a URL. Despite the complexity of IA changes, by following some […]
An exasperated in-house SEO recently asked colleagues on Twitter how to respond after upper management had met with an agency that had offered suboptimal, but eagerly digested, SEO advice. How indeed. Sooner or later, most in-house SEOs will face a similar situation, and how you respond may impact the budget you have to work with, […]
In October of 2000 a start-up company launched a self-service ad program with 350 customers. The company was Google and the program was, of course, AdWords. While practitioners of SEM were then relatively rare, those employed full-time by companies to optimize websites for search engines were almost unheard-of. Some ten years and billions of dollars […]
Perhaps the biggest challenge for an e-commerce SEO is that all e-commerce sites are conceptually identical. Virtually any site consists of products organized into categories, a shopping cart, and a checkout page. Accordingly, search marketing success for e-commerce sites is predicated less on innovation than possessing an expert understanding of factors that impact search marketing […]
As in an-house SEO specialist, you may well find yourself solely responsible for your company’s search engine marketing. It is not uncommon for an organization to limit their human investment in SEO to a single individual, particularly for new web ventures or where existing search marketing efforts are just being brought in-house. The challenge facing […]
By bringing search marketing in-house, a company has already made the determination that their SEO efforts are better managed internally than externally. Whatever the specific thought processes behind that decision, there are many realms where in-house SEO may offer an advantage over outsourcing of those same activities. In this sense, in-house SEO may be thought […]
The most important asset for an in-house SEO is the collective talent of the people that plan, produce and maintain a company’s website. The better informed these individuals are about search engine optimization strategies and tactics, the better your chance of search engine success. Company-wide SEO education is, in fact, one of the key benefits […]
As an in-house SEO, where does the legitimate scope of your activities end, and those of somebody else begin? Are you being a useful and valid contributor, or simply poking your nose in where it doesn’t belong? What is rightfully within your scope may surprise you. Successful search engine marketing requires you to collaborate with […]
I recently encountered this tweet from Aidan Beanland, a Regional SEO Manager at Yahoo!: When the SEO manager is the last to know about a new site section that’s already live –> big fat FAIL. This is, unfortunately, such a common occurrence for SEO managers that it should have a name: the Big Surprise (conveniently […]
It hardly needs saying that content is important for SEO: a properly structured site with frequently updated, keyword-rich content is the best foundation for high search engine rankings. Quality content that is interesting or useful to users also has an excellent chance of receiving unsolicited links, further enhancing a website’s ability to rank well for […]