The Search Marketing Blog at KoMarketing Associates

If you are finding this blog in search, please note that we've transitioned the KoMarketing Associates Search Marketing Blog to the main website.  Here's a list of key resources and information you will find there:

• KoMarketing Associates Search Marketing Blog
• Archive of Search Marketing Blog Posts
• Our SEO and Social Media Guides and Resources
• KoMarketing Associates' Case Studies

We hope you find this information valuable and don't hesitate to contact us with comments, suggestions and feedback.  Thanks for visiting!

It’s Been Awhile, Here’s Why….

If you are a loyal reader, an occasional reader, or are checking out our blog for the first time, you will notice that the last blog post we published was on March 27, 2007 – about a month ago.

No, we have not given up on blogging! It is still a great way for us to connect with our clients, potential clients, industry colleagues, and people looking to learn something new.

We have been putting off the creation of any new posts because we are moving our blog to a new platform. And we are very excited. Typepad has served us well from a functionality and ease-of-implementation perspective. However, when we first put up our blog we decided to use the hosted version of Typepad, which in the long run turned out to not be the ideal choice for our business.

First, we want our blog to be “on-domain”. Coming soon, our blog will start right at the KoMarketing Associates website, which will allow us to build up more content on our domain, increasing its overall imprint in search engines. Also, any links that we may be lucky enough to get to our blog, and individual blog posts, will have a greater impact for us than originating on another domain (e.g. site.typepad.com) and then coming to us – just as the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, the strongest connection between two websites is a direct connection, not a relay connection.

Besides, it’s a KoMarketing blog, so why not have it right here (there)?

I am not saying that you never want an off-domain blog. Or that Typepad is not a good blogging package. There are times when one or both of these is applicable (e.g. if you want a secondary blog to supplement your other blogging/communication efforts). Perhaps if we had chosen to purchase Typepad’s developer-friendly counterpart, Six Apart’s Moveable Type package, we would have stayed with the overall product line.

But, we didn’t. And here’s something to think about – because we used Typepad, and not Moveable Type, or any other blogging platform that we had integrated with our domain, we now face the fact that we cannot use a 301 redirect to point our old blog post permalinks to our new blog. So, we’ll lose some of the link popularity and content aging credit we started to build on the old platform. So, we will not be completely able to take advantage of any inbound links to our TypePad content.  In other words, we are taking a few steps backwards in our own SEO efforts (irony) for better website visibility in the long run.

But, as my father says about investing, “the best time to start investing was 70 years ago, the next best time is today” – so, we are starting our new blogging strategy today. Part of which means that I will be posting more than a few times a year, and stop leaving all the posting to the other talented team members at KoMarketing.

Also, going forward, we will be using WordPress as our preferred blogging technology. Things change rapidly in our environment, so there’s no guarantee that this new platform decision will still be ideal for us in another couple of years. But, we’ll adjust again, and stay focused on helping our clients and enjoying our work along the way.

Is Google Looking for a Home in Boston?

While there are often rumors of what Google is going to do next, the latest one hits a little closer to home...

It seems that Google may be looking to expand into the Boston/Cambridge area.  Several articles and posts have been written in the past day discussing Google searching for space and posting jobs here in Massachusetts.  Here are a few to note:

• Google Looking to Expand in Beantown?


• Tasty Chowdah: Google Moving Into Boston


• Is Google Planning to Expand in Beantown?

Does Search Engine Optimization Have a Future?

In January, I wrote a post on what topics I felt would become big themes for 2007 in search engine marketing.  I still feel that all of these topics, Web Analytics, Competitive Analysis and Social Media, are all critical to our ability to our being a high value service to businesses and website owners, but I may have missed one important idea that has been building in my mind, probably since before Google's IPO.

What will search engine marketing - or specifically, search engine optimization become, and can it survive as an industry?

In recent months and in various ways, SEO experts have been debating this topic a great deal, whether or not it directly begs the question at hand.  The topic really became visible in late 2006, after Dave Pasternack's article came out questioning the value in SEO.  This conversation escalated through the forums of search discussions and was even addressed by Danny Sullivan in his rebuttal article, "Yes Virginia, SEO is Rocket Science". 

But the debate about what brings value out of SEO has been talked about in our industry before Pastnernack offered his opinion.  In early 2006, Social Patterns asked the question of why "Large SEO Firms Suck?", which emphasized Jim Boykin's thoughts on page tagging as well as Rand Fishkin's conversation with Dana Melick. Clickz contributor Shari Thurow offered a good outline for identifying a well rounded set of skill sets that distinguish qualified SEO professionals from the amateur SEO shop, including usability experience, copywriting and web development/IT expertise. That article came out in 2005, when many people were just realizing that reciprocal links weren't as valuable and maybe you should have more than just your product information on your website for content. 

Within the past couple months, SEOmoz posted a definition of the SEO expert and SEOBook challenged the notion that SEO is the only industry trying to capitalize on a customer base.  Meanwhile, SEO names such as Jim Boykin, Jeremy Shoemaker and Todd Malicoat, "Stuntdubl", have begun embracing social media because they realize that these sites drive traffic, have millions of users and offer a high potential for obtaining inbound links.   These discussions and the visibility of SEO's utilizing new opportunities online all contribute to an existing undercurrent:

What does SEO become in the near and distant future?  Can SEO survive?

Most of my in depth discussion on the topic has been around a local watering hole in Davis Square or at 8PM in the conference room at KoMarketing Associates on a Wednesday when I wanted to home by 7.  Meaning, I haven't been discussing this on a personal level with the aforementioned names above, all of which I read fairly regularly.  I was at the inaugural SEMNE meeting a couple weeks ago and listened to a great presentation by Fredrick Marckini which helped revitalize some of my own thoughts on the business of search engine optimization.

So my answers to the questions above:

• To the second question: "Yes" SEO will survive.
• To the first question (which requires the longer explanation):  SEO will become whatever strategy is required to bring people searching for your product or service, to your website, your contact form, your payment authorization page, your email inbox and your sales staff.   

Marckini stressed the notion of reaching out to vertical markets directly or indirectly related to traditional search engines, such as local search, social media sites and niche search offerings (such as news search, video etc). He suggests this because search engines like Google and Yahoo can only become incrementally better at how they rank and prioritize search results based on variables and factors related to their algorithms.  That comment precludes an assumption that eventually people will no longer use a search engine to find what they are looking for.  In fact, search engines will just become an integrated component of any mechanism/product or service that an individual uses. 

I agree with Marckini's conclusions (which echo other leaders thoughts on the industry). I believe that as long as people are searching for anything, and using Internet technology to do so, search engine optimization will be required, because businesses need to know why search technology ranks or does not rank their information ahead of the competition for whatever mechanism presents search results.  More importantly, as Google, Yahoo and other search technologies strive to integrate themselves into the everyday applications we use, SEO professionals are the ones that understand what factors make or break website visibility in search.

That means that if integrating video tutorials into YouTube brings your business quality traffic, leads, and referrals, it will transcend to how Google values your website overall.  If your images will provide you a growing appreciation from the audience in Flickr, Yahoo will take notice.  If the community at Digg, "Digg's" your articles and information, you will probably generate both traffic and inbound links, which transcend to long-term SEO success.  If your website has valuable content, a user-friendly design and experience,  engages the visitor effectively, and your business is using web analytics to identify statistics like page views, bounce rates and average length of time on site, you have a better shot at succeeding in Google's personalized search. 

Search Engine Optimization - Beyond 2007

As long as people are searching for something, using Internet technology, there will be a need to understand what the mechanisms are that prioritize search results. Search engine optimization becomes a practice of understanding where not only users, but users potentially interested in your information, will be online, what sites they visit, where their questions are being answered and what tools they are already using to find information like yours.  As technology evolves and changes, our job as SEO professionals is to identify and utilize the emerging tools and resources available that will drive traffic, visitors and improved search engine rankings to your website.  People will not stop searching, but the sources of information that influence results will.

Alexa Data - Additional Support Skewing It's Accuracy

We frequently talk about the inaccuracies of Alexa data when looking at their reports and information presented.  While Alexa can be a reasonable benchmark for establishing some form of search visibility, it should not be maintained as an authoritative source of information, because the data is heavily skewed towards toolbar users and their demographics and preferences, etc.

Here are two recent posts supporting this statement from well known (and respected) folks at our favorite little search engine.  The original is on Peter Norvig's website and further expanded on by Matt Cutts on his blog last night.

Teaching Your Clients SEO

There was a discussion at High Rankings a few weeks back about training clients to maintain their website after it is designed.  The conversation began with the question of whether it is better for web developers to teach clients how to maintain their site or to do it for them? 

Not being in the web development industry I don’t have an exact answer to this question.  But it did start me thinking about the same type of question in regards to SEO.  How much should you teach your clients about the SEO process?  Do they need to know the ins and outs of search engines?  Should you teach them the aspects of keyword research and link building?  Or is it simply better to do these things for them and only teach them the basics?   

We try and give our clients as much information as is useful to them.  We want them to understand what we are doing but we don’t want to give them too much information.  One of the worst things you can do is overwhelm a client with documents that make no sense and have no value to them.  It’s a waste of your time and it’s a waste of theirs.

Here is an example:  At a previous SEO firm I worked at we would spend 10-12 hours putting together an extensive technical document for every client.  We would send it to them, get on the phone to discuss it and realize the majority of the clients not only had no idea what any of it meant but didn’t even read it. 

We also take into consideration the knowledge level of each client.  With keyword research for instance, we want each client to know why we do it, how we do it, and how it’s going to help them.  It is important they understand things like what the search volume numbers mean, why broad terms aren’t necessarily better or why they shouldn’t have the same keyword on every page.  Does a client really NEED to know how to perform keyword research?  No probably not.  But the more they know about it, understand it and see the time and effort that go into it, the more they value you and that time you spent doing it. 

Another major factor to think about is the client’s expectations.  What exactly are they expecting from you?  If a client signs a contract expecting that you will do the work, implement the recommendations and report to them once a month then the level of information you give them is minimal.  If a client is expecting calls once a week and details on what you are delivering to them, explaining the processes is very important and you should give them the appropriate information.

Basically, the best thing you can do to determine if the information will be useful to the client is to ask the question “Is this going to be beneficial to both them and us?”   Maybe you shouldn’t spend three hours of a client’s time and money explaining the link building process to them.  But if it will help them understand the value in SEO and more importantly in you, then it may be worth the time.  The way I look at it, the more knowledge and understanding the client has of what we do, the more they value us as a whole.

SEO Related Factors When Shopping for CMS Vendors

In today's environment for web development, it makes a lot of sense for businesses with a large volume of web content to be transitioning their website development from stand alone tools such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage to Content Management Systems (CMS) that use set templates and login based environments.  A CMS system allows people that would traditionally not have a technical background to be able to develop content and collateral for a website, and not worry about HTML, Scripting or Web Server configuration.  Unfortunately, not all CMS applications are designed to present website content that is search engine friendly or allow users of the system full control to access and manage specific on-page factors related to SEO. 

There are a few key factors that usually come into discussion when working with a CMS vendor and looking at SEO-specific functionality:

• Web Page Management and Web Page Development
• Web Address /URL Generation
• Code Efficiency
• Taking into Account Overall SEO Best Practices

Web Page Management
Because a CMS is almost always template driven, developers need to assign relationships to certain page related factors when creating web page functionality.   As a result, unless directed, properties of a web page essential to SEO can often be "locked" or automatically generated without a user being able to manipulate them.  Make certain that users always have the ability to manually edit the following characteristics of a "page":

• The HTML Title
• The Meta Description and Keyword Values
• The Page Heading

It's good for a CMS vendor to create "default" variables that affect these properties, but a user of the CMS should be able to override these defaults and choose their own values whenever necessary. 

• One additional note on Title tags: It's optimal that the HTML title tag management be exclusive of all other properties, save the creation of internal cross links that are automatically generated (such as when websites include sections on a page for "related links" or similar usability components).  The HTML Title should not be tied to things like the web address of the page (more on this a bit later)

Web Page Development and Navigation Considerations
Another key feature of web page development in a CMS that can be overlooked is the ability to include/exclude a new page from the main navigational menus.  Make certain that you have the ability to expand the content you want users to find from a site-wide navigational perspective and be able to exclude content, especially if you build pages with seasonal relevance or temporary, promotional campaigns.

Web Address /URL Generation
The ability to control what a web address (URL) reads is less important than another, often overlooked factor of CMS vendors: how the CMS generates and presents the web address.  Here are some guidelines on web address generation related to a CMS:

• The web address should not be rendered as a dynamic URL (none of the following: ?=... or &id).  The web address generated should appear like a static, directory-style URL
  Example: domain.com/folder/folder/end (specific file extensions are not overly important)
• The web address should not contain session ID's for purposes of user tracking or authentication.  While tracking is absolutely important, the CMS vendor should have some form of cookie-based or alternative way to track and record visitor information, not through by way of a session variable appending to the URL.
• The web address should not change in direct correlation with web page changes (such as a modification of an HTML title tag).  The age of a URL is an important factor in search engine rankings.
• Finally, navigation should be consistent and "locked down".  That means that there should be no way to back door the page by entering in either a known dynamic query string or appending variables at the end.

Code Efficiency
How a CMS renders the HTML output can potentially have a negative effect on a search engine's ability to crawl a web page or website efficiently.  For instance, not placing JavaScript in external file locations and simply adding the code to the page output is not uncommon to see.  Another issue I have seen is bloated HTML/script-based parameters around formatted content and hyperlinks that are generated.  Finally, the actual white space that is generated in web page output, while not a backbreaker, adds unnecessary file size to your web pages.

Consider Overall SEO Best Practices
The last thing to critical thing to consider in selecting a CMS vendor is how they respond to overall SEO best practices.  I'm not suggesting they should bend over backwards for every little request - but consider the following components of SEO that are valuable and relevant to your success online in search:

• Text-based navigation
• Being able to incorporate an "alt" or "title" property in your images
• Using <H1>, <H2> etc tags for Page Headings and Sub-headings
• Proper use of CSS and other web design technologies

Finally - Some "Nice-to-Have's" from CMS Technologies
Here are some ideas for CMS vendors to consider when looking at selling the value of "SEO-Friendliness" in their product as well:

• RSS Feed capability - especially for articles, news and press releases
• Automatic Search Engine Sitemap Generation
• Data Exports of product or content related information in general
• Usability compliance or proactively integrating best practices for ease of use, such as breadcrumb trails, access for the disabled, printer-friendly pages (with a noindex parameter!), social bookmarking/sharing features etc.

Wrapping It Up
As with any major purchase, make sure that you are doing the necessary due diligence as it relates to your total web development needs.  This post is not meant to be a guideline purely for purchasing the right CMS, there are many other factors that should contribute to your selection and screening process (platform, integration, capacity etc).   Here are a few links to articles online related to choosing an appropriate CMS system:

• Choosing a CMS: How to find the right content management system for you
• 5 Biggest Mistakes in CMS Selection - from CMS Watch
• Choosing a Content-Management System  - Inc Technologies

12 Good Posts on Search Marketing From Our Blog

Looking back at our first year of blog posts at KoMarketing Associates, here are 12 Posts that are worth re-mentioning in relation to how you can achieve success with Search Marketing, SEO and PPC.  We hope you agree.

• The Emergence of Facilitating The Crawl
  Thoughts on how user-generated content and new opportunities for webmasters to work with search engines have an impact on the SEO and SEM market.
• Guidelines for The Open Directory Project (DMOZ)
• SEO 101: The Importance of HTML Title Tags
  If you were to only change one thing on your web pages to help in your efforts with search engine placement and results, it would have to be your HTML Title tag. This post gives some guidelines for effective HTML Title tag creation.
• Tools We Use for Blogging
  A quick snapshot of three tools we use for Blogging - TypePad, Blogger and WordPress.
• SEO Effects of Modifying Your URL Syntax
  One of the components of SEO that can often go overlooked is the importance of maintaining web URL syntax.  Constantly changing your URL names, in order to catch the latest trend or buzz, may actually do more harm than good.
• Search Engine Optimization During Mergers and Acquisitions
  A well-planned search engine optimization strategy is critical for any company going through a merger or acquisition.
• Are Meta Description Tags Important?
  Information on how the Meta Description tag impacts SEO, Search Marketing and a user's search behavior
• Be Careful With Parked Domains
  How parking a domain on an existing website can have detrimental search-related effects in the long-term
• Quantifying Link Building
  Thoughts on the factors that justify the opportunity costs for time as it relates to an ongoing link building campaign
• Adding "Digg This" Links to Your Blog Posts
  How to add this popular feature to your blog posts in TypePad, Blogger and WordPress
• Review of Yahoo! Search Marketing’s New “Panama” Release
• Making MySpace Your Own
  Three important guidelines for building a great MySpace page
  

How ‘Local’ Can Google Local Search Get?

For a while now we have been seeing little maps, phone numbers and addresses appear in Google’s search results.  Sometimes they would show up and sometimes they wouldn’t, leaving us to wonder just what Google was up to.  Well as it turns out they are on their way to taking over the world.  Okay maybe not, but they are in fact entering the world of localized search.

Posted on the Google Blog Monday,Google gave details on where and when local businesses and services would appear in the search results.  Every time a user searches for a place, business or other location specific information, Google will show a map, provide contact information and in some cases (mainly businesses) present reviews. 

It seems as if it was only a matter of time before we heard about this.  SEO’s have been helping sites optimize for specific locations for years and sites like CitySearch and AOL’s CityGuide have made their names and money from providing users with information on restaurants, bars and attractions in every major city across the United States. 

The only real question I have about this, is how accurate can the Google database be?  Are they gathering their information from the yellow pages?  Are they out trolling the streets taking notes?  Can Google really give results for every small town across the U.S?

I don’t know the answer to this yet but I did a try searching for the dry cleaners in my hometown.  (Quick background - my hometown of Avon, NY is extremely small and barely constitutes a suburb.  We have two stoplights, three banks, three gas stations and no Wal-marts.  We do however have a McDonald’s and a Dollar Store).  The surprising thing was, Google not only gave me the name and location of the one dry cleaner we have, but they offered me directions. 

Congrats to Google on this.  Just one more way to increase your search traffic and one more hurdle we in the search marketing industry have to jump.

Marketing Gone Wrong? - Bomb Scare in Boston a Result of Viral Marketing Campaign

In an interesting turn of events, two Boston-area men go to court today in connection with a bizarre publicity stunt, as reported by WBZ.  The two are allegedly responsible for placing more than three dozen illuminated electronic devices that were meant to promote a T-V cartoon, but instead sent bomb squads scrambling around the city Wednesday. The initial devices, confused to be possible explosives, caused a shut down of the Boston highway during peak morning hours, backing up traffic and commuters for hours on Wednesday, January 30th.   By afternoon, at least eight other similar suspicious packages were discovered, each triggering a security alert involving emergency crews, federal agents, bomb squads, police and the U.S. Coast Guard, as stated in the Reuters release.

Once Turner Broadcasting, realized the detrimental effects in the Boston market, they immediately notified law enforcement officials of their locations in 10 cities where it said the devices had been placed for two to three weeks: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Philadelphia.  They also issued a statement, apologizing for the situation and explaining their intentions.

Read the full article from Boston.com and here is an image, courtesy of MSNBC:

What makes this even more interesting is that (as stated above) these icons have been staged for over two weeks in ten major metropolitan areas.  So either we in Boston are highly astute or everyone else better second guess there ability to observe the outside world and what's going on around them.

All jokes aside: What could Turner Broadcasting have done to make sure that something like this was prevented?   
Marketing Profs Daily Fix suggests that Boston should have known better, given the obvious nature of these devices.

My suggestion would be to put a name, a web address, a marketing slogan or something there in addition to the device - i.e. a Label.  "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", while reasonably popular, is not Coca Cola, McDonald's or "Eva Longoria", meaning the little electronic lighting figure standing there by itself in the morning darkness could be misunderstood by say, "a 50 year old father of two infants that doesn't watch Cartoon Network and is sensitive to issues of terrorism". It could be possible.

While I agree with others that to some degree, it is a laughable situation - especially in hindsight, simple labeling may have solved this issue well beforehand.

Some differing viewpoints on Boston's reaction to the viral marketing campaign:

• Guerilla Marketing Causes Boston Bomb Scare
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force viral ads cause Boston bomb scare
• Viral Marketing...not: Boston Bomb Scare

My thoughts on the value of a label
First off, a label of some sort would immediately give a clue to anyone observing the devices that it was some form of advertising gimmick.  Second, even if it did set off an alarm by some wary pedestrian - which electronic, glow-in-the-dark, circuit-like devices left unintended in public places can do - once law enforcement received word, they could easily use one of the handy tools online to search for any possible information in relation to whatever the web address, slogan or other label read. (To be fair, people were calling in on the radio waves all afternoon, trying to explain what the devices were)

What makes it difficult initially is that running a search online for "weird electronic device sitting in Sullivan Square without any identification" often yields inaccurate results, even in a trusty search engine like Google.  The label would have helped a bit.