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.

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
  

Google Infrastructure Update Underway

Matt Cutts' recent blog post indicates that there will be some visible updating to a few key Google numbers we like to look at (most of the time :-))

• PageRank is being updated in the Toolbar, which also will reflect search results around the "link:www.domain.com" and "site:www.domain.com" numbers.
• Issues with supplemental results should be corrected
• Most importantly (IMO), he also writes to indicate (and validate) a key point about "data pushes" to public search results.  These happen more frequently than before - every 1-2 days in comparison to a 3-4 week timeframe in the past.  While this should not affect keyword rankings over the long-term, we've definitely noticed more fluctuation on a regular basis, and this information supports the observation (and why it is happening).

To illustrate how this can affect search results, we recently wrote a post reviewing SEO Spyglass.  This post currently ranks #1 in results for "review seo spyglass" and "review of seo spyglass" as of 1/11/2007, but was just recently #9 in results (Tuesday - 1/9/2007 actually).  The greater point here is that as more users review this tool, or write about it, you should see our rankings drop over the long term  - unless - we take active effort in building our own presence for that keyword online through link outreach. 

This example is being used to illustrate the fact that what used to be something you could gauge (more or less) on a monthly basis may actually fluctuate weekly, or even daily if you check it that much.

Keyword - Competitor Link Building Example

We apologize for the inconvenience but have removed this link building tactic from the archive.  Make sure to check out our search engine marketing blog for more strategies and information on SEO, PPC and social media.

Splogging Turns To New Methods of Spam Tactics

The "State of the Splogosphere Part IV" gives us some hope that the continued problem of spam generation of blogs may be getting solved by the big blog search engines such as Google Blog Search and Technorati.  While it is far from complete, at the least, the engineers of these search tools are recognizing the issues and addressing them as best as they can (as echoed by Matt Cutts on Saturday).

Of course, that only means that the spammers use alternative methods to driving artificial links - comment spam has taken on a whole new meaning.  Even in our blog, which received little traffic, we end up filtering out comment spam on a regular basis.  I can't imagine authoring a blog with thousands of subscribers and manually filtering out the junk they receive.  What does this mean for the future of the social network?

My opinion is that social networks need to look at better filtering technology to get rid of the junk.  WordPress TOS clearly defines their intolerance to spam on their hosted servers and it can only be a matter of time before plugins are created to filter self-hosted blogs using the open source technology as well.  But the WordPress team eliminates blogs on their network that do not conform to guidelines as well - this is not just an empty statement.  The other blog software providers should be doing the same as well as the social network providers and "enablers" such as Technorati, Digg and YouTube.  If they do not, the greater danger is that they become useless or untrustworthy.  Think about how many web directories there are on the Internet that have so little value to the user.  The same may just as likely be said about Article Directories and Press Release syndication services. 

There is a reason that Google remains at the top of search technology today - because they care about the search results that they show and continue to find ways to update their algorithm to eliminate the misuse of web technology tactics designed to "game" their results.  But more importantly, perhaps they realized the fickleness of the web user, and the fact that by not doing this, the world of Internet technology easily allows their competitor to provide a better user experience and ultimately a better website.  The same needs to happen in the environment of the social network, and probably much sooner than later.

Google "Isonic" - SEO Hits the Mainstream

Search engine optimization hits the mainstream on ESPN's Mike & Mike in the Morning.  In between light jabs and sports commentary, a quick (commercial) reference was made to the sound quality of the Polk Isonic Audio System this morning. In a rather subtle, yet distinct move, the call to action very effectively tells the radio listener, "just Google 'isonic' to learn more about the Polk audio system. 

Brand Positioning and SEO
How does a brand become a household name?  We already know that popular shows such as Sex and the City, through the casual conversation of "Google this" or "Google that" have brought the Google brand name to the mainstream market.  The Mike & Mike in the Morning show claims thousands of listeners every morning through 700 affiliates. Listeners that may or may not be technologically savvy in terms of demographics. While most listeners are familiar with Google, do they specifically associate a keyword with Google?  With a brand? With being able to use a keyword to represent a brand?  I'm not sure of the correct answer here. 

The keyword "isonic" had somewhere around 1000 and 1500 keyword searches last month, a reasonable number, but not extraordinary (primarily because it lacked mainstream awareness).  Once a term or keyword association hits the mass media, or is representative of a company, brand name or product, keyword popularity improves and ultimately, the SEO landscape gets more competitive. Brand names such as "John Deere Tractor" or terms such as "search engine optimization" would have no competitive significance to the market if there were little mainstream significance. In another week, it's plausible that a dozen websites may feature the keyword "isonic" in their content, in order to maximize their presence online through search results as Mike Greenberg (possibly) continues to promote the Polk Audio System. 
Just Google "Isonic". 

Big Three Support For A Sitemaps Protocol

Its worth noting that the big three search engines, Google, Yahoo and MSN are joining together to collaborate on a unified sitemaps program.  You can find out more of the program at sitemaps.org, which is offered under the terms of the Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License.  This post is one the myriad of posts out there on the topic, so to find more information and commentary, here's a link to Google's official announcement on their webmaster blog and Yahoo's post as well..

 

Quantifying Link Building

A client recently asked me:
"With all of the activities we handle related to search - PPC, copy, competitive analysis etc, how can we quantify the choice to incorporate 'link building' into our overall search marketing campaign?"

Outside of the actual link that creates a sale, it can be difficult to justify (financially) the time and commitment required for effective link building - but search marketers know that link building is a key element to any successful SEO/SEM campaign.  The fact of the matter is that not so long ago, most links for SEO had little to do with the actual user-based traffic that actually was related to them.  As search algorithms have matured and improved, good search marketers know that effective links are created to build quality traffic, increase the amount of appropriate users, and ultimately, generate prospective customers. 

Here are some real answers to how you can quantify your link building campaign, as it relates to your complete search marketing efforts (outside of the direct sale). 

• Link Duration
  Quality inbound links give your website a greater presence online for the long-term.  In comparison to an investment in PPC, your website and company message get the benefit of long-term visibility, rather than just through the query of a search term.  More importantly, as these links stay alive, the benefit of age increases their own value as they get older.
  
• Trust Factor
  Your website presence on respected sources brings the benefit of relevance and trust to your own company.  Without inbound links, you rely solely on Internet advertising and website copy for establishing recognition in your products and services.  Being seen in the online communities and properties that make up your industry base and potential customer base is important.
  
• Strategic Brand Awareness
  Creating inbound links allows you to better understand the patterns of your prospects and potential customers.  Having quality links that generate traffic and (potentially) sales gives you an opportunity to better spend your marketing dollars for brand building and marketing communication.  Your inbound links help identify what types of websites will bring you the best traffic for your money.

Inbound link building is critical to achieving keyword rankings in search engines, but actually justifying the time and cost associated with building links can be hard in comparison to other methods of traffic building which incorporate more direct statistics for tracking ROI.  While the end game is always a measure of how much more your website makes in terms of overall leads and sales, hopefully the answers here provide additional insight into what makes link building more beneficial as a function of your overall search marketing strategy.

Popular Web Directories

While the overall value of links found in web directories may or may not have a serious impact on your keyword rankings in today's search algorithms, there are still reasons to consider submissions into the major directory resources, including:

• Getting Indexed.  Search engines still crawl the best web directories, and they offer the opportunity to be found, if nothing else, by search engine spiders.
• Directory Data Feeds.  An unspoken value of the Open Directory is that it provides data feeds of its listings for webmasters to publish.  What happens then is that the syndications of its content (including Google and AOL), automatically feature your website in their specific directory listings, without any additional work from you.
• Categorical Reference.  Because most directories will have you specify a certain category for your submission, at the least your site gets placed within your strategic thematic relationship, even though the purpose of the website as a whole is not necessarily industry or business related.

Popular Web Directories
Here is a list of popular web directories that you should consider submissions for.  Note that today, most of these directories now require a fee of some sort for inclusion. 

• The Open Directory (DMOZ) - The original volunteer, human-edited web directory.  This is one of the largest and oldest directories out there.  Make sure to adhere to the submission guidelines as required.  More information on the submission process for the DMOZ can be found here.
• Yahoo Directory - The Yahoo Directory is an extensive catalog of websites organized by topic. Non-commercial sites may submit for free but most commercial sites require a $299 annual fee.
• Business.com - A comprehensive directory of business websites, and an ideal choice for B2B companies.  The directory requires an initial $199 submission fee and then $149/year thereafter.  One nice benefit for new listers is that they offer the ability to create 4 additional sub-links into deeper pages of your website.  They also feature a nice 800 number for questions and service.
• Best of the Web - Editor-based web directory since 1994 and now revamped with a blog directory as well.  There is a one-time fee of $149 for submissions, with a review process of 3 business days.
• GoGuides - General directory listing sites by ratings. The fee is now $69 per submission and you can pay through PayPal or traditional methods. 
• JoeAnt - General directory listing sites by ratings. Uses icons to aid content selection.  The nice thing about Joeant is that they encourage webmasters with interest in the directory to become contributors, and have a complete section of information and forums for Joeant editors to discuss topics and work together.  Outside of being an editor, there is a one-time submission fee of $39.
• About - A network of sites where visitors can find many targeted topic areas, each one managed by a personal guide.  The strategy for getting linked in this website is a little bit more difficult, as there is no commercial process for submissions.  Rather, webmasters should contact the appropriate guide and begin a working relationships demonstrating the relevance and value associated with their website and the specific topic at hand.
• Gimpsy - Holds reviewed, interactive sites, classified by the activity the user is aiming at, and provides a Natural Language search interface.  There is a one-time $40 submission fee.

The list here is a mere handful of web directory opportunities for webmasters to investigate and submit their material to.  It should also be noted that this list does not even touch on specialty directories, which include regional guides, topic specific directories and niche directories (for bloggers, RSS, articles etc)

Here is one of the best places I have seen for listing a ton of directories (free and commercial) in one place, but if you would like more information and additional resources, check out the links below:

• The Yahoo Directories own listing of Search Engines and Directories
• Wikipedia
• SearchEngineWatch.com's listing of major search engines and directories for consideration (somewhat outdated)