We are proud to announce that StepForth is once again rated one of the best blogs on the net by the BIGLIST of Search Marketing Blogs. Created and managed by respected web marketer Lee Odden of TopRank the BIGLIST is a comprehensive list of the best marketing blogs online - at least it is now that we are on it ;-)
All joking aside the StepForth team is proud to be recognized for their writing efforts in the search marketing space and plan to continue delivering the best work we can - or not at all. And of course I would be remiss if I didn't stress that the StepForth SEO News Blog is comprised of articles from more than just myself - our team rocks!
Here is the entry as it is shown on the BIGLIST:
StepForth SEO News Blog - (Welcome back!) Since 2003 the StepForth blog has covered a range of search marketing industry news and sets a great standard for SEM blog writing. Kudos to Ross Dunn for a great job.
If you haven't subscribed to our blog feed yet or our weekly SEO newsletter then just check out the links below to see what all the hoopla is about!
Mobile phone search is reaching large proportions and search engine's are well aware of this trend and are finding new ways of speeding up this process. This article has a good rundown of "a Google search plug-in that puts a search box on the "home screen" of the phone and reduces the time it takes to get there (to Google) and get results."
Searches on question and answer web sites have risen by almost 1000% compared with use on these sites two years ago. "The popularity of user-generated media has helped to establish a category for social knowledge." Helping on Q & A sites is also a web marketing strategy where sharing your knowledge of a particular subject can bring traffic and awareness to you because of your good answers.
With great joy the staff at StepForth want to welcome into this world Emma Marnie Van Achte, the newborn daughter of Scott Van Achte; our Senior SEO at StepForth and friend.
Emma was born March 03, 2008, 5:54pm, at 7lbs, 8oz
Congratulations Scott and Lyndsay! You have an absolutely gorgeous baby girl and we can't wait to meet her and spoil her silly :-)
Here are more pictures of Scott and Lyndsay's long awaited day.
Yesterday I had the good fortune to be invited to speak on the Webcology Webmasterradio.FM radio show with Jim Hedger and Dave Davies about my experience with competitor analysis. The show was a part of a 10 part SEO series where experts in their select field of SEO are invited to discuss their artform. In my case I discussed some of the most interesting tactics involved in competitor analysis and some of the other tactics I didn't have space to cover in the companion article on competitor analysis in the WebProNews Expert's column.
Near the end of the interview, as a final touch, I asked a website analytics analyst by the name of Andres Galdames to come onto the show to discuss the other side of improving website visibility; using website analytics to improve performance of your site instead of focusing on a competitor. In addition, Andres and I touched on how analytics plays a major role in tracking the success of web promotion strategies implemented on a website as a result of a competitor analysis. We had more to discuss at this point but unfortunately Andres lost his connection to the radio show and Jim and Dave wrapped up the show.
All-in-all it was an exciting experience and I look forward to being invited again onto Webcology. A big thanks goes out to Jim Hedger and Dave Davies for the opportunity to discuss competitor analysis - a field I am so passionate about.
I am pleased to say, although I am a little late finding out, that my article "How Glossaries and FAQs Can Improve Search Engine Rankings" was nominated for a SEMMY (Search EMMY). I wish I had known sooner so that I could have spread the news earlier but just the same I feel honored; it is nice when work gets a little link love and additional attention.
By the way, Matt McGee deserves a big thanks. Creating the SEMMY's is a brilliant way to acknowledge all of the writers out there that work hard to produce quality content. Thank you for your hard work and vision.
The canvas I have outlined for successful web marketing is taking shape. The first article looked at the necessary stages we need to develop. We started with market research and analysis of our competitors and now armed with this information we can proceed to perhaps the most critical component of all, developing our keyword targets and creating supporting text for them.
What’s In a Word?
It has been often said that content is king. The choice and expression of these words is what makes the connection to the visitors and helps determine user behaviour. If the message is clear the visitor will know if they are at the website they want (or need) to be at and start the exploring process. Visitor attraction is influenced by a myriad of aspects such as site design, choice of colour, and ease of navigation. Visitor confidence is bolstered in large part through your use of words. Similarly much the same can be said for the search engine spiders; the higher their confidence rating of your website the higher your visibility in their index. And this rating of confidence all begins with how you choose your keyword targets.
According to Keyword Discovery over 80% of all online transactions begin with a keyword search. In a spreadsheet write down all choices of words you think your prospects will type into the search bar. It is important to consider not what you would type in but rather what your prospect will. Next you need to determine which search terms will be the most effective for your site and which you need to be found under. Two variables must be considered: the search frequency of a keyword phrase and its competitiveness on the net. This is to say, how many times is a particular keyword phrase being typed into a search bar and how many web pages are competing for that particular phrase.
The number of searches will indicate the amount of traffic you will get from top placement. Generally speaking, any phrase with more than 100 – 150 searches per day is considered relatively highly searched. That said, one must also consider how targeted a phrase is. An untargeted or general phrase with 200 searches per day may be less valuable than a targeted phrase with only 30 searches per day. Armed with this information we must then look at the competition. If a phrase with 150 searches per day has a very high competition level but a phrase with only 10 searches per day has a low competition it will be less costly to target the less competitive phrase and MAY produce a better return on investment.
To determine keyword search frequency select one of the following Keyword Research Tools listed on the StepForth site and put in your keywords. Enter the resultant search values on the spreadsheet. Take this opportunity to look for other keyword targets that the software will present in addition to your search term. Can these other keyword targets be of benefit to you? Next enter each term in the Google search bar and enter the number of pages competing for that term. The number of competing pages shows in the upper right corner of the screen.
From this data one can determine a universe of potential keyword phrases. Discard phrases that have a low search frequency; why bother spending time and effort for terms that people are not typing in or searching for.
Determine your list of words that offer a reasonable number of searches and have lower number of web pages competing for that term. Establish your primary and secondary phrases and it is this list from which you can create or modify your web pages and write textual support for these keywords. The primary phrase is the one that gets threaded throughout the whole site and the secondary ones are those that are category or page specific. Keeping a focus on the primary and secondary targets is critical. Tile tag and unique page descriptions, as well as keyword enriched internal links can be developed from this list. Consider using keywords with descriptive or geographic modifiers.
The importance of relevant text cannot be overestimated. Oftentimes additional body text content is necessary for the search engine spiders to obtain a qualitative snapshot of the topical content of the individual documents within your site and in order to make an overall assessment of what the site is about.
One simple way to keep spiders happy is to provide them with great ‘food’. Relevant, keyword enriched content will substantially increase the prospect of the site achieving better placements. For example, text used in the Home or Index page should be very descriptive of the business and its products or services. A paragraph or two (100 – 250 words) using keyword enhanced wording would be sufficient. On each page the message must be relevant to the overall theme of the site. Refine what message each and every page is to project, and write your content in the same manner you would speak it. Remember to keep the language simple. As Einstein wisely stated,
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
As search engine spiders can only read text with 100% efficiency and tend to miss important information phrased in images, java scripts and Flash, the body text of the website is by far the most important element examined by a search engine. Further, keep in mind that search engine spiders cannot read the text within images or frames. This would include text in graphic menus, company logos, Flash animations, as well as what is in most header and footer sections.
Web Design and SEO
Now that you have looked at your competition, chosen your keyword targets and written your content it is time to give thought to the best way to present it visually. Key considerations for a search friendly web design include: an easy to read menu structure that remains consistent throughout the site and a nicely weighted balance of text to images. The navigation format should be textual and no more than a few levels deep. Spiders value the content more highly if it is placed in the higher directory levels. If you have an image based menu ensure you make a footer section on each page that is textual so search engines can read it. Avoid full pages composed of graphics or flash. Your web design should offer the ability to create unique title and description tags. Check for possible broken links and repair or delete them, and add a sitemap as well as an XML sitemap. For information on creating an XML sitemap see our XML Sitemap Creation Tools article.
Avoid having a Splash page at the beginning of the site as search engine spiders can not read the information. The Home (or Index page) is the most important page in the site for spiders to read, record, and index. As well the use of pop-ups in place of internal pages should be avoided as search spiders will not read information contained in pop-ups.
Some worthwhile reading suggestions follow. To decide if you are in need of a website redesign read our SEO Friendly Redesign article. If you are still unsure if your web design is SEO friendly consider investing in a few hours of consulting time. Also, I highly recommend looking over Correcting Common Usability Mistakes . These observations and suggestions can save you time and money.
The stage is now set. Market research and competitor analysis have given way to keyword identification, textual creation and a search friendly web design. The next phase to be discussed in our online marketing campaign is search engine optimization techniques.
I am often reminded how important it is to develop a well thought out business plan. I speak with numerous clients each day, each having a passion to promote their service, information or product and yet although they may be experts in their field, they do not have the expertise or foresight on how to market the site. Often times the website is destined to stay in the closet and never get the online exposure they need and are hoping for. And often times the client lacks an objective perspective, sort of being amongst trees in a forest and not being able to see to whole picture.
The internet audience has matured and become more sophisticated in its expectations and delivery of information. No longer can one just throw up a site and expect to immediately generate business. Website readiness for online marketing can take many forms. In this and the articles that follow in the next few weeks, we will examine the building blocks to successful web marketing. We will look at:
How to work your marketing budget and timelines
How to work a realistic marketing business
Pitfalls of optimization
Most common mistakes
Optimization complete, now what?
Tiers for small -med -large business, how we customize them
Making informed decisions now will set the stage for easier transitions on future initiatives and this can help minimize your costly investments of time, labour and money. Your website should be viewed as a dynamic entity and it requires your consistent attention and nurturing. This is a cardinal rule.
The Building Blocks….
The following checklist is an excellent strategy for achieving superb organic visibility and stable placement in the search engines. It will also help increase visitor retention and conversion. This information is portable; it does not matter whether you are in the planning phases of starting an online business, already have an existing website or are in need to redesign your presence. Although many of these stages (phases) can run concurrently the list below is presented as what should be implemented first, prior to moving into the next phase.
Marketing budget and timeline development
Market research
Website design
Competitor analysis
Keyword research
Content creation
Content management system and or shopping cart creation
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Link building
Blogs, newsletters, articles
Social media
Website analytics
Pay-per-click marketing (PPC)
Of course, your marketing strategy will be determined on whether you will be intimately involved or delegating stuff in-house or out of house. Do you have the time, energy, expertise for any, some or all of these important tasks? Will you go the consulting route and implement their recommendations? Is your service or product time sensitive? Does it need to be sold by a certain date? Your strategy, timetable and budget will vacillate accordingly.
Perhaps the best actionable word I can offer is to “Focus”. Focus on what it is you are all about and what sets you apart from your competitors. This may sound simple enough, however, try writing down in one sentence what one message you want visitors to receive when they come to your website. Surprisingly, many site owners I speak with have not or cannot do this. Determining such clarity before starting anything else can pay dividends. For example, organic visibility and placement in the search engines largely has been considered a game of inches; will you take advantage of this opportunity and create a keyword enriched domain name?
Market research offers data rich and timely information on what your competitors are doing. This can be approached from two angles and really, it is about how you define your “competition”. Perhaps you are aware of competitor sites from within your industry and want to learn more about how they got to where they are in the search engine result pages. Odd as this may seem, this method for selecting which competitor sites to analyze may not be the most effective route to analyze your competition. These competitors may not be well placed in the search engines and may not be targeting the same keyword phrases that you are. Should this be true, why bother analyzing them. On the other hand, if you have already determined one of your site’s primary keyword phrases you can type it into a search engine and review the resulting index page and choose from the list. The difference here is an important one to consider. Here you select your keyword phrase target and see who is competing for that term. It is not necessarily important who that company is or even what industry they are in. The important consideration is who is on top of the list for the keyword phrase you are shooting for and you are looking for any ammunition you can get to leap frog over their position in the search engine results page.
Market research will produce a blueprint for your web marketing direction.
Competitor analysis reveals information about their keyword targets and how they are positioned in Google, Yahoo and MSN. In looking at several competitor sites one can construct a universe of keyword phrases that have proven successful in the search engines. Understanding this helps determine your keyword phrases and aid in the creation of textual content for your site.
Links can be analyzed for their reputation and their popularity. Where are they coming from and are they paid links or from a link farm? Knowing who is linking to your competitor can make your task an easier one when developing your own link building campaign.
An index saturation analysis will show how many pages a website has indexed in a search engine in comparison to the number of pages actually existing within the website. The purpose of the saturation analysis is to evaluate the various design elements that may be affecting indexing efficiency and to ultimately determine whether saturation is playing a noteworthy role in the website’s (your competitor’s) ranking.
Optimization analysis will determine what (if any) particular optimization techniques are overwhelmingly influencing rankings for internal review pages of each site.
Not everyone has the budget or expertise for this in depth type of data mining. A more economical approach may be to conduct keyword analysis. Quite possibly developing a realistic set of achievable primary and secondary keyword targets is the most overlooked aspect to any successful web marketing presence. This component will be looked at in the next article.
Have you got a burning question about your current search engine optimization campaign?
Do you want to ask about the particular nuances of different leading search engines?
Are you wondering why after all of your work your website is not getting better rankings?
If so, send your SEO questions to StepForth and if they are not already answered in our "SEO Answers Resource" we will do our best to answer them and possibly feature them in future SEO blog postings or articles.
The Weekly StepForth SEO Newsletter Also if you are looking for great free SEO tips and advice we highly recommend signing up for our free weekly SEO newsletter - the StepForth Weekly. The StepForth SEO newsletter provides valuable SEO tips and important search engine news on a regular basis to ensure that you are always kept up to date.
You heard me right! There are items in your house ‘sucking a nickel of every dollar's worth of the electricity that seeps from your home's outlets’. The items I speak about are the ones in “standby mode”, such as your computer or any type of electronic waiting for the touch of a hand to fire it up. This includes rechargeable and trickle charge devices for cell phones, tools, toothbrushes, and any idle appliance such as an oven, dvd player or microwave that displays a clock.
An average household in the US will pay an additional $200 per year due to electronics on standby which is why The Vampire Slayer Act of 2006 has been approved by the California Assembly.
For ways to conserve energy I found this site to be of value and informative.
As for vampires in your home, they may be the ones shouting “Trick or Treat” at your door tonight.
Happy Hallowe’en from all of us at StepForth!
by Anita Sperrer, Office Manager
Ps. The picture of the kitty was added by Ross because... well a picture of a vampire kitty just seemed to work in his crazy Halloween-filled mind.
This is an important bulletin for anyone who is currently subscribed to StepForth's Weekly SEO Newsletter.
This week we need a moment of your time to confirm that you still wish to continue receiving StepForth's weekly SEO newsletter. In addition, starting next week, we will be using a new premium mailing service to send out our newsletters. The service is called Constant Contact and it will allow us to provide the highest quality opt-in and opt-out email services that will ultimately protect your privacy at a whole new level.
Until you resubscribe you will no longer receive our newsletter.
Thank you for your time and we hope you decide to continue to receive our weekly SEO newsletter.
Sincerely,
Ross Dunn CEO / Founder StepForth Web Marketing Inc. Note: This notification was sent via email to subscribers but due to the importance of this bulletin it has been posted here in case subscribers happen to miss the email.
Next week I will be attending the Search Engine Strategies Conference in San Jose. I will be covering the event as Press so you can expect some interesting updates over the course of the week - but I can't promise when.
If you happen to be in San Jose and want to hook up please email me - rossco at stepforth dotcom and hopefully we can arrange a time to meet.
For all those marketers out there: my writing focus for this trip is on the vendors that compliment my company's SEO/SEM clients and in turn my readers. Pitching other SEO/SEM companies is not in the cards.
The "Do it Yourself Social Media Marketing" white paper was written to educate business owners on the essentials methods required to harness the immense power of social media marketing.
Social media marketing is defined within the white paper as "a method of promoting your brand (be it yourself, a product, a service, or a company) by strategically making your presence known across various social media networks (such as Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Myspace, etc)."
About The Direct Marketing Association "The Direct Marketing Association is the leading global trade association of business and nonprofit organizations using and supporting direct marketing tools and techniques.
DMA advocates industry standards for responsible marketing, promotes relevance as the key to reaching consumers with desirable offers, and provides cutting-edge research, education, and networking opportunities to improve results throughout the entire direct marketing process. Founded in 1917, DMA today has more than 3,600 members from the US and 46 other nations, including the majority of companies listed on the Fortune 100." quoted from "About the DMA"
About StepForth Web Marketing Inc. StepForth Web Marketing Inc. is a web marketing agency that has provided Internet marketing services since 1997 and is a recognized leader in the online marketing industry. StepForth's web marketing services include: search engine optimization, pay per click campaign management, keyword and competitor research, website analytics and social media marketing plan creation.
Well I have no idea how this algorithm based on Technorati's API is but according to this nifty widget created by Dane Carlson, StepForth's SEO Blog is currently worth $83,551 buckaroos. Hmm, now if we could just get that kind of money from our blog :-)
The following video is an excerpt from the 2007 Search Engine Strategies Keynote discussion between Danny Sullivan and Windows Live Chief, Steve Berkowitz. In this excerpt Steve Berkowitz explains that "it is not ever satisfactory not to be number one" in the search engine industry. He further explains that Microsoft's first goal is to reach critical mass from an advertising standpoint and how Microsoft's search platform will continue to evolve.
My apologies to my readers for such a quiet week on the StepForth SEO Blog and for the nonexistent newsletter. I have been very busy trying to catch up on open contracts and prepare for my adventure to New York next week for the Search Engine Strategies conference.
I promise I will make it up to you next week with coverage from the conference. There are plenty of topics to delve into but the ones that strike me the most interesting are:
The future of webmaster tools from search engines. Just how much information are they going to share and what is their ultimate intent? Google has already gone a lot further than I had ever expected.
Duplicate content considerations are a hot topic for many of my readers as evidenced by the jaw dropping volume of
Blink
Del.icio.us
Digg
Furl
Google
Simpy
Spurl
Y! MyWeb
With great joy the staff at StepForth want to welcome into this world Emma Marnie Van Achte, the newborn daughter of Scott Van Achte; our Senior SEO at StepForth and friend.
The canvas I have outlined for successful web marketing is taking shape. The 
You heard me right! There are items in your house ‘
StepForth is proud to announce that after careful review 
