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January 31, 2007

I am a CoLT Fan

I couldn't be a bigger fan of Da Bears, so please note the use of singular in the title. In the spirit of SEO sportsmanship, I wanted to post (A) something nice about any Colt (2) that could be construed as relevant within our industry. So here goes . . .

CoLT is by far my favorite FireFox add-on. It allows you to copy and paste link text with a right click, or even copy and paste an entire link in plain text, html, or wiki formats, which is a huge time saver for Link Building efforts.

May the battle be won by the better team on the field, or at Wiki, where you will see the following note placed on both the Colts and Bears articles.

In conclusion . . .

Bear Down, Chicago Bears. Make every play clear the way to victory!
Bear Down, Chicago Bears. Put up a fight with a might so fearlessly!
We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation, With your T formation.
Bear Down, Chicago Bears. And let them know why you're wearing the crown.
You're the pride and joy, of all Illinois.
Chicago Bears, Bear Down!

Posted by tom at 10:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 30, 2007

Are Corporate Blogs Worth It?

We come across this question frequently and to date it's been hard to quantify an answer. I came across this blog article from Charlene Li this morning and though it won't answer specific questions, it's definitely a good place to start.

So if your contemplating a move to a corporate blog give this article a look and it should help you at least ask the right questions.

P.S. If your interested in more information on a similar topic there was a prior Speedwagon article on Blogging for Big (and Small) Brands a la Forrester talking about the same researcher, Charlene Li, and her insights into "what blogs, RSS feeds, and search engines mean to popular brands"

Posted by brent at 09:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 27, 2007

Taking an Ad-Targeting Lesson from Seinfeld

One of Jerry Seinfeld's older, better standup routines involved a laundry detergent ad - specifically, its ability to remove blood stains easily.

Jerry went on to suggest that if your clothing routinely requires the removal of blood stains, maybe picking the right detergent isn't your biggest concern.

A couple days ago, I was searching for a list of top Google subdomains, and on a simple search for [google], I saw this Adwords ad on the page:

Here's a full shot of the results page in a new window.

Now this is probably a glitch, and I've been able to reproduce it only a few times, so I really don't want to go into the technical aspects of why or how it happened.

Instead, I am intrigued by the possibility that it's intentional, and that the folks at Compare.com have come to the brilliant conclusion that maybe - just maybe - if you're a person typing the word "google" into a Google search box, you might have problems stemming beyond computers, including but not limited to management of personal finances. I think it's a pretty safe bet.

Posted by erik at 03:20 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 26, 2007

Searching for My Box In A Box

After scoring far more than 12 million views in little more than a month, I’m curious to see how Google handles the Junk in a Box genre. The phenomenon accounts for somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 searches per day, including anything from [d--k in a box] (2181 searches) to [box in a box] (120 searches) to [beep in a box] (6 searches) .

Let's look at a condensed query that pulls Google results from both types of junk in a box searches.

1. YouTube - SNL Skit The Video Uploader. Uploaded 12/17/06 by NBC, one day after the skit aired on Saturday Night Live.
2. YouTube - My Box in a Box The Video Uploader, again. Uploaded by boxsinger 12/28/06.
3. Bloggers Blog - My Box in a Box Blog. Posted 1/17/07. Not very old, but does come from a compilation blog within a network.
4. Popular Stuff - SNL SKit Video Uploader. No longer links to either video from page, but the SNL skit was uploaded 12/28/06.
5. Sci Fi - Neither in a Box Video Uploader. No longer links to either video.
6. DevilDucky - My Box in a Box Video Uploader with 17,000 links.
7. Viral Video Chart - My Box in a Box Video Uploader with social bookmark links everywhere.
8. VH1 Best Week Ever - My Box in a Box Video Uploader. Uploaded 01/05/07 by popular show, also with social bookmark links galore.
9. Dorks.com - My Box in a Box Video Uploader. Uploaded 01/09/07.
10. TwistImage - My Box In A Box Blog. Posted 01/06/07.

Some things to consider while looking at these results.

• Google has noted that most [... in a box] searches end at a video and thus responds with 8 video uploaders on the first page.
• Google realizes we are most likely looking for one of two videos, and shows us the right version of both. Keep in mind there was no room for error here, as Google will only show 2 YouTube results on this page and must sift through many impostors.
• Further evidence that Google knows searchers are looking for video rather than content is the notable absence of Serp Princess Wiki from the first page. Articles created 12/24/06 and 01/17/07.
• How do you get her to open the box?
• With the other 2 results on the first page, Google wisely looks to the blogoshpere for further information regarding this incredibly recent search phenomenon.
• Perhaps My Box is in a Sandbox. The blog for My Box in a Box, which was created on a new subdomain 12/28/06 seems to only appear in obviously non-competitive searches.

  Posted by tom at 12:21 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

  Google Don't Know Inches

  It's finally snowing in northeast ohio and this here boy can finally break out his beloved snowmobile for some hot snow action on the local trails.

  Just yesterday, I was out riding my sled in about 15 inches of fresh powder. After about 20 minutes, my engine was bogging down and I had to head back to the garage for a quick look. Low and behold, I was pulling a dead left cylinder due to water getting into the motor (not good considering the nasty implications water can impose on ANY engine). After careful review of spark plug coloring and air filter, I discovered my air filter was practically non-existent and needed replacement STAT.

  Me being the search geek that I am, I instinctively head over to good ol' Google for a quick search - [3" air filter snowmobile] The results were OK at best, so I thought I'd search for 3" in quotes as to force Google to show just those results.

  Now, due to the nature of exact phrase match searches, one must use quotes which unfortunately is the same symbol as inches. The results were a whopping 1 matched document in this case and was quite dishearening for me, but what can you do? Well, the only thing you can do in this case is spell it out for the search engine - [3 inch air filter snowmobile] and hope to get better results. In this case, I need to start checking with other engines as well as some well-known snowmobile parts sites to find my much needed air filter.

  Since the forecast for this weekend is an additional 10 inches of snow, I'm going to find this damn filter if it kills me. Too bad Google couldn't come through for me this time around.

  Posted by sean at 09:00 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

  January 23, 2007

  What Online Political Marketing Savants Don’t Know About Search Might Hurt Them

  Oh my goodness was I excited to see the article from WaPo in my inbox this morning--here we have on page 1 an actual article trumpeting the prescience of having what is variously called anything from a Chief Internet Strategist to an E-Campaign Strategist along for the ride on a presidential campaign staff. Then I saw, sigh, that the future they were foreseeing had already leaped past them as they were patting each other on the back for having a guy on staff to post videos:
  

  
  Call it the YouTube effect, and it is only growing. The video-sharing site, which less than a year after its founding was bought by Google for $1.65 billion, has revolutionized the transfer of information via video, spawned a number of imitators and forced candidates to recalibrate choices, from their announcement strategies to their staffing decisions.

  Thinking linearly, of course, these men from the future are prepared to not only post videos preemptively but also in response:

  If a rival campaign takes a quote or a incident out of context and uses it as an attack, McCain's team will have the full record to rebut, if needed.

  My how prescient. Let's take a look, though, at the nonlinear fashion in which the internet works via search when it comes to an attack floating out there in the atmosphere.

  One of the charges that McCain's team probably would like to rebut, and quickly, is a label that John Edward's team has applied to the strategy of adding more ground troops in Irag: The McCain Doctrine.

  Here is McCain's video response to that appellation on YouTube, clearly something he and his guy on staff who posts videos would want voters to see who are wondering exactly what the label means, especially if they are wondering what the label means without having prejudged what the label means.

  Now, where are these people most likely to go to find out what exactly The McCain Doctrine means? How about a search at Google for [The McCain Doctrine] itself? Any chance?

  They clearly have some work to do here beyond posting videos.

  Posted by john at 04:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

  January 21, 2007

  One text link? Is that all it takes for Page 1?

  I was looking at rankings for auto terms and noticed this SERP for [2007 Ford Explorer]. Notice the site in the #4 spot, 2007fordexplorer.com:

  

  Curious to see whether that site was an official Ford site or just an enthusiast site, I clicked over. It's neither, apparently. Just the words "2007 Ford Explorer" on an otherwise blank page.

  So how can it rank for that phrase with just the domain name and that title and simple body copy going for it? Must have a ton of high-quality inbound links, right? Not exactly.

  

  A few things of note here. First, slightly off-topic, is that Yahoo is clearly reading CSS files, just as a few people are discussing about Google right now. But that's not important.

  What's impressive is that the page (according to Yahoo, at least, which is about the most accurate source) is that it has just one external link pointing to it. Clicking the Inlinks (1) link shows us the page that's linking in:

  

  And on that page? You probably guessed it - nothing but anchor text to various other pages with only the year and model name (or other similarly shallow text) as body copy:

  

  And this page full of text links has only one incoming link - from its root page. As far back as I cared to search, nothing but garbage links. Maybe I've been working too hard...

  Posted by erik at 11:00 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

  January 18, 2007

  Powerpoint Presentations Are Boring

  I personally don't care much for powerpoint presentations and in a recent meeting, I made it known.

  Just the other day, I went to meet with an Agency to discuss Intrapromote's core competencies in SEO/SEM. Of course, I had to have the obligatory PPT highlighting clients, accolades, services, etc.

  About half way through the powerpoint, I did something I’ve never done before. I looked at the group and said something along these lines – “powerpoints are boring. I’d like to switch gears and start asking/answering questions�.

  Once I stopped the powerpoint, the meeting went on for another hour and tons of knowledge was gained for both parties at hand thus maximizing our time together.

  In the future, I plan on continuing to do powerpoint presentations for prospects, but find more value in having a discussion as opposed to the ol’ dog and pony show of PPT’s.

  Maybe I should bring a PPT to my next face-to-face meeting and have one slide that says: “Today, we’re not having a Powerpoint�. J/K…or am I???

  8^ )
  

  Posted by sean at 11:02 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

  January 16, 2007

  Increased Site Visibility At Yahoo Leads To 122% Sales Increase

  Recently heard near the Intrapromote water cooler:

  “It’s not all about search engine placements. It’s also about attracting the right visitors, site visibility, traffic from search engines, and increased sales/conversions.�

  Here’s a recent example from a campaign that I direct:

  … Site Visibility

  In the process of working on site visibility, we created and submitted a sitemap to Yahoo through Yahoo’s Site Explorer. The number of pages in Yahoo’s index prior to this submission was 2.9 million. Three days later, the number of pages in Yahoo’s index was 3.9 million. Yahoo inlinks also increased by 1 million.

  … Traffic From Search Engines

  Is better site visibility a means to an end for increased traffic from search engines?

  Curious to see how this might affect the amount of organic traffic from Yahoo, we were able to pull this data from their analytics program. Before site map submission, the client’s site was receiving 950 visitors a day from Yahoo. The site is now receiving over 2,000 visitors a day from Yahoo.

  … Increase Sales / Conversions

  Do more visitors from search engines mean more sales?

  If they are searching for your product or service, these are exactly the visitors you want and should be the bullseye of your SEO campaign. For our client, sales from Yahoo search traffic increased 122%.

  Posted by doug at 04:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

  January 12, 2007

  Future-Proofing Your Site by Resolving at the Folder Root

  It's become pretty common advice over the last several years to tell site owners to have their home pages resolve at the "root" (e.g., http://www.domain.com/) as opposed to some form of "home page" filename like home.asp, index.html, etc. Google's getting pretty good at getting those canonicalization issues figured out, but I'm sure it doesn't mind a little bit of help.

  But this advice holds true throughout your site for a different reason than mere canonicalization. Suppose you have a site with a directory structure like Virgin Atlantic's. Here's a sample category URL for its flight search page:

  http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/flighttimes/index.jsp

  Decent URL (even though I'm not a big fan of the /en/us/ quagmire) - at least it's not littered with dynamic arguments like it could be. But if I were working for that company, I'd recommend having that page resolve at the root of the final folder, instead of at index.jsp. Why? The earlier mentioned canonicalization issue is one reason. We don't want Google crawling both

  http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/flighttimes/index.jsp

  and

  http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/flighttimes/

  and thinking they're different pages. But Virgin Atlantic has already covered this. In fact, the latter URL mentioned above results in a 404. So for that site, canonicalization/duplication problems aren't an issue.

  Here's the big reason I'd recommend that the URL resolve at /flighttimes/: Because in a year or two from now, when the company rolls over into a new platform, the filename and/or the file extension of that folder's home page will most likely change. When that happens, they'll be mired in 301 redirects from each directory's old home page to its new one - all the way across the site. That won't waste hundreds of staff hours, but it will consume a few.

  Contrast that with a platform rollover from .jsp to .aspx, .net, or .cfm, or whatever, when the page resolves at the folder's root. In that case, we'd go from this url:

  http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/flighttimes/

  to this one:

  http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/us/flighttimes/

  Get it? They're the same. No lag time whatsoever. No 301s to "wait out" while they sort through their processes. No URL changes for engines makes the SEO process much smoother. Knowing how to fix SEO issues is great, but knowing how to prevent them from happening is better.

  Posted by erik at 04:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

  DMOZ Just Won't Die

  According to the DMOZ site, they started editing again according to a bolded red section of their site just above their search box prompting people to log in for more information.

  Something tells me this weak glimmer of hope isn't going to alter the editorial review process of submissions, but as I've said time and time again, I love to be wrong sometimes. Perhaps our faithful wagon readers have seen some positive change in the review process???

  Posted by sean at 08:36 AM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

  January 09, 2007

  Wiki Watch: The BCS National Championship

  Acting on a geeky hunch, I looked at Wikipedia about 5 minutes after the BCS National Championship. You know where this is headed.

  

  Of course, Wiki already knew that Florida upset Ohio State!

  Posted by tom at 12:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

  January 05, 2007

  PPC Management Strategy

  Much like anything else effective PPC management is the result of comprehensive research, measured and structured setup, and diligent follow-up and monitoring. Often times the success or failure of a campaign depends on how these areas are defined and implemented. I want to lay out a basic strategy for your best chance at PPC success and to foster constructive dialogue between you and your PPC manager (or vice versa I suppose).

  Part 1 - Conception & Setup
  The most common first words I hear when launching a new campaign are some form of “we want to start our PPC bids today�. Laying “black hat� techniques aside, PPC offers the quickest way to get your name seen on the Internet these days. The distinct advantage of speed can easily be turned into the campaign’s biggest disadvantage when proper time and effort in the conception and setup phase are ‘thrown under the bus’.

  I try to divide the initial conception and setup into 4 distinct phases:

  1) Initial interview
  Very crucial meetings in which timetables are flushed out, methodology is discussed, and most importantly expectations and initial goals are agreed upon. I try to use this meeting to find out about the details of any past PPC campaigns, what they liked, and what they didn’t. I also try to talk a lot about who their typical ‘sale’ or ‘lead’ is and how they measure success. I try to instill the idea that I am trying to now 'get in the head' of their target audience and I’ll need all of the seemingly irrelevant details that they can think of as to who buys, how they buy, and what they buy. Things like ‘sales cycle’ etc. can be very important in how ad success is measured and how a campaign is laid out.

  2) Keyword research
  Perhaps the most grueling part of the initial process is the keyword research. Imagine long lists of keyphrase variations that you either never thought possible or can’t believe that someone actually searches for. The task, although laborious at times, is crucial to seeing how people actually search in your field of interest. I have never failed to be surprised at how people actually search. I generally like my clients to go through the majority of the lists to make sure I am not missing out of some potentially good keyphrases. My mantra here is “nobody knows the business better than the client�.

  3) Ad writing
  I often chuckle when a new upgrade comes to Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing. Most of the time the push towards more quality ads has little impact on how we do things except to increase our competition with the flood of people who are now forced to ‘do it the correct way’. There are many different techniques for writing and testing ads, but the bottom line for every ad ought to be that it is 1) about what you are trying to sell, 2) it includes the keyword if at all possible, and 3) that it is appropriate for the landing page that it is pointing to.

  4) Campaign build out
  Perhaps the least understood part of the initial process is the campaign build out phase. The best axiom I can think of to describe the rationale here is this: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure�. It is important to set things up so that monitoring and the eventual tweaks and changes can be seen and made as easily as possible. Last but not least, it is absolutely vital to make sure that common themes etc. are tied together to add a sort of ‘strength of structure’ to the individual ad groups/categories, and thus the entire campaign.

  
  Overall the conception and setup phase is vitally important because it sets the tone, creates the expectations, and adds the structure that will be necessary for the PPC campaign to be successful.

  In my next installment I will address the Initial Campaign Phase and its attributes. Until then…

  Posted by brent at 09:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

  January 04, 2007

  How to Calculate Keyword-Based Conversion Numbers in Google Analytics

  Google Analytics is great for assigning goals to certain events, showing you the referring keyword that triggers those events, and displaying what keywords have the best conversion percentage. But how do you determine the exact number of conversions that took place? If G1 is the download of a file, and G2 is the sale of a book, how do you determine the number of downloads or the total number of books sold, sorted by individual keywords?

  You can easily determine a hard number of conversions (over a specified date or date range) in the Goal Verification menu:

  

  But assigning raw conversion numbers to specific keywords is a bit trickier. Not rocket science, but it takes a little work. Here's what I do.

  1. First, create a Google Analytics keyword report. You have to determine conversions-by-keyword on a source-by-source (i.e., domain-by-domain) basis. So navigate to All Reports -> Marketing Optimization -> Visitor Segment Performance -> Referring Source. Pick a specific source (I chose "google [organic]"), then specify the Keyword report as shown here:

     

     Note: To produce a keyword report, the source must be labeled as [organic] by Google Analytics.

  2. Once you've created the keyword report, export it into Excel, which should give you something like this. Note that I've added some column head colors, and that I've replaced actual keywords with "Keyword 1," etc., to protect client privacy:

     

  3. So now we know that Keyword 1 converted 1.53% of the time, over 652 visits. But how many raw conversions is that? It's a simple calculation, and we'll add it into the first available column to the right. The following shot gives the formula:

     

     This forumla simply takes the number of visits from each keyword and multiplies by the conversion percentage, then divides by 100 to account for the percent. Note: This specific formula works only if the existing columns appear as shown here. You'll need to change the [-1] or [-3] as necessary if you have more or fewer columns in your spreadsheet.
     

  I'm a little surprised that the raw number of conversions isn't already a part of the keyword report. It's valuable data and would be easy to add to the programming. Fortunately, unlike some full referring URL strings, conversion-by-keyword data is available with only a few clicks.

  Posted by erik at 01:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack