10 Things I wished I knew about AdWords; A Beginner’s Guide

Wednesday 6 Jan 2010 by Jared Huber | 1 Comment
Filed under: PPC Tags: , ,

2010 is going to be a list of “top 10’s”.  Here’s the first.

I wish I had known these things about Adwords prior to working on my first campaign.  Some are basic data integrity points that could save headaches; others are knowledge of Google’s default settings that could save money.

  1. The default targeting setting for a new campaign is Global (as in, the entire world), with Google Search, Search Partners, and Content Network opted in.  Be sure to set your preferred geographies and network types before turning on a campaign.
  2. You won’t always spend your daily budget on a campaign. It’s a cap on expense, not a guaranteed expenditure.  Instead, the amount you spend for a given campaign is based on the search volume, click-through rate and CPC.
  3. It’s possible to spend more than your campaign daily budget on a given day. Google allows up to 20% overage on a given day.
  4. Changing an ad deletes your history for that ad (or makes it really difficult to determine how it’s done over time). Instead, create a new ad and pause the old.
  5. Changing a keyword (or its match type) makes it difficult to track performance over time. Instead, start a new keyword and pause the old.
  6. Prior to the latest version of the interface, it was really difficult to tell what the geographical targeting is for a campaign.
  7. Changing the geography of a campaign frequently is another data integrity nightmare. Instead, start a new campaign focused on that second, non-overlapping geography.
  8. Match type is critical; shorthand for exact is [exact match keyword] and phrase is “phrase match keyword”
  9. The Google AdWords conversion tag is not the same thing as Google Analytics.  Until they pull integration out of beta, use both just to be sure.
  10. Google’s Content Network with Flash ads tracks View-through conversions.. which is really cool.

Google vs. Apple – Unintentional bias?

Friday 11 Sep 2009 by Lauren Eynon | No Comments
Filed under: Uncategorized

In the world of search, Google reigns supreme and stands behind their informal corporate motto “don’t be evil.”  They claim to provide unbiased and objective results to the best of their ability.  But do they create an impartial Camelot like their motto suggests?  With all the talk surrounding the Google/Apple wars, we decided to investigate.

The Apple iPhone is popular, wildly popular.  Typing ‘iPhone’ into the major search engines yields:

Yahoo! Search – 1.6 billion results

Google – 356 million results

Bing – 802 million results

No doubt that in your work with SEO and PPC campaigns you’ve used, or come across Google AdWords.  I’ve used this program quite a bit and find the collection of tools especially helpful for suggesting potential keywords and providing traffic estimates for new projects.  So I was curious – how does the iPhone rate within the Google keyword tool?  Searching for phrases containing any of the terms ‘iPhone,’ ‘i-Phone,’ or ‘i Phone’ yielded 14 suggestions (Figure 1).  The tool is not case sensitive, I checked.  Only 14 different phrase suggestions containing the word iPhone or its common derivatives seems improbable, especially given the number of search results!  Interesting…

Google AdWords - keyword suggestions for 'iphone,' 'i-phone,' 'i phone'

Figure 1: Google AdWords - keyword suggestions for 'iphone,' 'i-phone,' and 'i phone'

Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google and runs using a Linux platform.  In October 2008 HTC released the first commercial cell phone to use this operating system.  For comparison, the first Apple iPhone was released in June 2007.  Typing ‘android’ into the major search engines yields:

Yahoo! Search – 267 million results

Google – 40 million results

Bing – 4.8 million results

As expected, these search results for the term ‘android’ contain a lot of noise.

Using the same Google AdWords keyword tool I searched the term ‘android.’  The keyword tool found and suggested the maximum number of phrase match possibilities (Figure 2).  Included within the results were several expected phrases relating to robots and ‘killer androids,’ but the overwhelming majority of the results were clearly representing the Google Android operating system.

Figure 2: Google AdWords - keyword suggestions for 'android'

Figure 2: Google AdWords - keyword suggestions for 'android'

Comparing the results returned by the search engines, there’s more web content for the Apple iPhone in comparison to Google Android.  Google Trends also indicates this difference in terms of relative search volume (Figure 3).  Somehow the Google Adwords keyword suggestion tool only comes up with 14 phrases that contain the term ‘iphone’ or its derivatives, yet maxes out when looking up its own product.  The phrases ‘iPhone app’ or ‘iPhone app’s’ were not identified, but ‘android app’ was – something doesn’t seem right…

Figure 3: Google Trends - 'iphone' vs. 'android'

Figure 3: Google Trends - 'iphone' vs. 'android'

Google’s proprietary algorithms are unknown to all but a few, so we cannot be sure why the above results occur.  Are we looking at a case of unintentional bias, or selective removal of Apple iPhone based terms?  Regardless, the Google/Apple war remains in full effect.

Google vs. Apple – Frenemies

Thursday 10 Sep 2009 by Lauren Eynon | No Comments
Filed under: Uncategorized

It seems that, indeed, Google and Apple have become frenemies. If you have never heard that term before Wikipedia defines it as this:” a portmanteau of “friend” and “enemy” which can refer to either an enemy disguised as a friend or to a partner who is simultaneously a competitor.”  After the recent rejection by Apple of the Google Voice Application for the iPhone, Google and Apple are certainly giving each other the competitive eye. Although neither have spoken particularly ill of one another in the press, there have definitely been some punches thrown. 

The iPhone Dilemma

It all started (or so it seems) when Google submitted their Latitude Application for the iPhone. Apple rejected it. It seemed a minor albeit worrisome defeat. Then Google submitted their Voice Application for approval. Voice Application allows users to route through a Google number which in turn provides them with cheaper long-distance (especially overseas), text translation of voicemail messages, phone recording, and free text messaging to name but a few. The application seemed like a perfect match for the iPhone, especially considering it’s presence on almost every other competing smartphone.  Apparently Apple disagreed because they rejected it. Officially the rejection was based on Google Voice’s “duplicating features” of the iPhone. Hmm. Odd, but considering Apple’s seemingly willy-nilly style of approving and disapproving applications not completely shocking. Google accepted the defeat with grace publicly, but shortly thereafter Google CEO Eric Schmidt stepped down from Apple’s board of directors. It wasn’t necessarily a vindictive move- perhaps Apple’s rejection of Google Voice made him realize the conflict of interest, that now Apple and Google are competitors. 

What about AT&T?

Quite a bit has been made of AT&T’s role in Apple giving Google Voice the thumbs-down since the decision was announced. Many techies place the blame squarely on AT&T’s shoulders.  They claim it was AT&T’s fear of losing out on big bucks that made them convince Apple to disapprove the Google application- after all, Google Voice does make calls and texts quite a bit cheaper. According to them AT&T is simply a greedy corporation that forced Apple’s hand.  It is true that the Google Voice application would result in some monetary loss for AT&T, but would that have been enough to convince Apple to reject the apps of longtime friend Google? AT&T says no. Apple says no. According to two of the three companies involved AT&T had nothing to do with the decision. Which, if true, makes the denial of Google Voice all the more confusing.

Google and the Government 

Google has friends in powerful places. Eric Schmidt is one of President Obama’s technology advisors and his CTO is former Googler Andrew McLaughlin. Not that they had anything to do with the FCC’s investigation into the iPhone App Store…right? It does seem rather menacing, at least in appearance. Apple rejects Google Voice and all of the sudden the FCC takes an interest in the iPhone App Store and how certain applications are chosen for it. You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to think there something dodgy about this situation. Why is the FCC investigating the iPhone? Perhaps if it had a 90% share in the market this could be a bit more understandable but it doesn’t, the iPhone isn’t even the top selling smartphone in the US. What other logical reason would they have to investigate- if competition isn’t being stifled (and it isn’t) then why is the FCC involved at all? Did Google have anything to do with it? Maybe, maybe not. 

 

So, where does this leave us?  Who makes the next move? This duel is far from over, and neither Apple nor Google want to be the one to back down.

Google Caffeine vs. Google Decaf- Do They Taste the Same?

Monday 17 Aug 2009 by Lauren Eynon | No Comments
Filed under: Google, Search Engine Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Google Caffeine is getting quite a bit of buzz lately. It seems as if everyone is talking about what it is and what it will mean for the future of search. Google invited “power-searchers”  (or interested regular searchers) to test drive the new indexing system at www2.sandbox.google.com.

Even with the public testing and feedback there is still some mystery surrounding how far this new indexing system will go- will it be limited to search, or will it be applied across all of the Google online structure? For, now we don’t have those answers but we do know what Caffeine is and how it will change (or not change) your search results. 

Google has stressed the fact that most users (i.e regular users) won’t notice any major differences- even though these changes are major (MAJOR). In fact, Caffeine basically is  a complete and total re-write of Google’s indexing system. The motivation behind these changes is to give the searcher, — power or regular, —  a much better overall search experience. Caffeine will give you faster, more accurate, and more comprehensive results- at least those are the goals. 

If you go to www2.sandbox.google.com and give Caffeine a spin (like I did)  you will notice some of these goals have already been met. I entered “Nehmedia” (of course) as my search term and my results returned within .05 seconds- I also tested this on Decaf Google (aka www.google.com) and my results were returned in .08 seconds. I also tried a more frequently searched term “Shoes;” Caffeine returned the results in .18 seconds and Decaf Google returned my results in .23. Conclusion: Caffeine is faster than the Google we use today. 

Another interesting aspect of Google Caffeine is that this new indexing system is going to make your time from launch to index much quicker,.Meaning: the time between when you submit a document to be indexed and the time it is made searchable should be much shorter- which is pretty fantastic for those of us in SEO.

Also very important to note from the SEO standpoint is that it seems (to me at least) that a lot more emphasis is going to be put on keywords. The top results have the exact words you searched for and in the order you searched them in.

More emphasis is also put on recent activity and content. When I searched my name on Caffeine, the Facebook results were at the top. In Decaf Google, the top results were a mix of articles containing my name. I can only deduce from this that websites with more recent activity are pushed to the top of the results. This could have a huge impact on SEO; if we want our clients websites to be highly ranked we are going to need to regularly add content or make changes to the site. Caffeine will also return more search results than normal Google so your search becomes more comprehensive- they are making it very hard not to find what you are looking for. News is changing as well. Caffeine focuses on real-time updates and has set in place an algorithm to make sure that as news is updated, so are you. 

Many people have been wondering what set Caffeine into motion and a lot of whispers (and yells in some cases) have been speculating that it was the recent Yahoo-Microsoft merger. Not so, says Matt Cutts (and he would know). In fact, according to Cutts, Caffeine has been in the works for months and the timing is coincidence.

I believe him. It would have been nothing short of a miracle for engineers and technologists to have created this as a reaction to BingHoo (or whatever you want to call it) and have it up and ready for testing so quickly. Pretty impossible, even for Google. Nevertheless, it is competition- and fierce competition at that. Even if it wasn’t meant as an answer to the merger, it is an answer to it. 

For regular searchers, Caffeine won’t mean too much of a difference in results. As Cutts said, the changes are “primarily under the hood”.  Google will still return relevant results- just faster and more comprehensive results. Power searchers and those in the “know” will notice some significant changes though, and SEO needs to take note of them because it will effect our methods and strategies.

 

Matt Cutts blog: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/

Friend Requests, Tweets, and Links Oh My!

Friday 14 Aug 2009 by Lauren Eynon | No Comments
Filed under: Facebook, SEO, Social Media, Twitter Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Perhaps, you have guessed what today’s blog post is about? Social Media, of course! I have to admit I wasn’t really a social media fan in the beginning. I held out on Facebook for three years until finally caving in and setting up a profile, and I only recently fell under the Twitter spell. I will say, however, my new-found interest in these sites isn’t purely personal. More and more SEO is recognizing the marketing potential of social media sites.

Millions and millions of people are connected worldwide through Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Youtube, and LinkedIn (to name only a few.) In fact, the first thing most people do in the morning is check their profiles, tweets, and status updates. What better way to reach all of these millions and millions of people than through social media sites?

The power and allure of these sites is that they aren’t just a space for you to tell the world about yourself or upload your photos. Rather, they are communities. Communities that have an on-going dialogue with one another about politics, religion, hobbies, music, and just about anything else you can think of. The SEO world has begun to take notice and use these social media sites to reach out. Social media is quickly becoming one of SEO’s favorite suggestions to websites with low-budgets. It’s free to join most of these sites and when used to their full potential have many benefits for websites.  Let me elaborate…

* Link building- Social media sites are an excellent way to reach out to others in your industry. Links are an important aspect of website optimization and connecting on social media sites is a low-hassle way to build them. “Friending” or “following” companies you respect and making insightful comments on their profile/wall/twitter are great ways to connect your websites. Of course, remember to attach a link to your comment- this might not work 100% of the time but it doesn’t take very long and is completely free, so what do you have to lose?

Posts are another way to get the attention of someone you would like to link to your website. Keep in mind that links coming from relevant, high-quality sites are rated higher by search engines than those coming from low-quality non-related sites. There is literally no limit to how many people you can “friend” or “follow” so don’t hesitate to get your name out there and start building a reputation. 

* Speaking of reputation… social media sites can be incredibly helpful in keeping yours impeccable. They are quickly taking the place of traditional customer service. Social media allows you to have a dialogue with your customers and ensure that they approve of your site/service/product (whatever the case may be). Consider this: one of your customers is very unhappy with the service you have given them and they tweet or write a status update about it. Because you are plugged in to social media,  you can immediately address the issue and try to resolve it. You might have just saved your site from a potential loss of customer while at the same time establishing a positive reputation. And remember you just did all of that for free!

I love the story about Apple. A man purchased a MacBook computer and within a few months it was no longer functioning. He took it to the Apple store and they wouldn’t honor his warranty because they believed he had spilled water on it. After repeated complaints to customer service and innumerable assurances he had, in fact, not spilled any type of beverage on his computer, he had still not gotten anywhere with Apple and still had a non-functioning laptop. In his frustration he filmed a YouTube video where he smashed his worthless computer to bits. It got millions of hits and garnered the attention of none other than Steve Jobs himself. Within weeks the once un-happy customer was typing away on his brand new (free) MacBook. Another victory for social media! 

*Keeping an eye on your competitors- so often it seems that there is an all out war between competing companies. It doesn’t have to be this way. Yes, you are competing, and yes, you do want to be the top dog in your respective industry, but no, it doesn’t have to be a bloodbath. In fact, you can learn quite a bit from your competitors. As I mentioned before, social media is community forming- and it is always nice to be part of a community. Join your competitors in open discussion forums, comment (positively, remember your reputation…) on their blogs, friend them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter. These are all excellent opportunities for gaining respect in your industry and keeping up with all the latest developments. And, if you are completely set on war, then it is also a great way to keep an eye out. 

  • Let’s talk brand awareness- if you are new to the game (whatever your game is), then taking advantage of social media is a great way to get your name out there. You can create quite a lot of buzz by establishing your website or company on different social media sites. Quick note, I would recommend using several sites in conjunction. Most people are only members of one or two, so you want to make sure you are reaching out to as many people as possible (i.e. don’t put all your website eggs into one social media basket.) Even if your site isn’t ready to be launched or your product isn’t quite ready for the masses, go ahead and start marketing it: sometimes all you need is a little buzz and anticipation to make your site or product a success. If you are simply trying to earn some brand recognition then friend or follow as many people as you want, post comments on blogs, and make interesting videos. All of these things help make your brand recognizable to the public. Did I mention this is free???? T.V. ads cost a lot, PPC ads can cost a lot; Facebook (which does offer advetising that isn’t free- but you don’t need to pay to use it effectively) and Twitter are free. 

I’m not guaranteeing that social media is the holy grail of promotion (yet), nor am I saying this is all you have to do to be successful online. What I am saying is that social media is an effective low-cost first step to marketing your site, creating brand awareness, earning a positive reputation, finding new customers, and keeping them satisfied. So start requesting friends, following tweets, and building links – I’ll meet you there.

SEOM? Search Engine Optimization Marketing…

Thursday 13 Aug 2009 by Lauren Eynon | No Comments
Filed under: Page Optimization, SEM, SEO Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ok, I realize that SEOM is not an industry term (unless you are a part of the industry that defines it as Spectral Element Ocean Model…but if you are here, then I doubt it). I do, however, think it should be an SEO term. Search Engine Optimization Marketing, has a very nice ring to it- and more importantly a relevance.

As search engine algorithms become more advanced and people are less and less able to function without an internet connection, SEO has to become more sophisticated. We can’t completely rely on the “old faithful” strategies. Of course, optimized keywords, valuable content, PPC (Pay-Per-Click), and linking are all still vital for a successful website- but they aren’t alone anymore. A focused marketing strategy is quickly becoming one of the most crucial aspects of creating and launching a successful website.

Hence, SEOM- Search Engine Optimization Marketing. What I mean to say by this is that using traditional methods of SEO are no longer enough. These days a strategic marketing plan is going to be the difference between a site some people visit and a site that is well-known. A couple things to keep in mind when formulating a marketing plan for a website…

 

* Audience- What is the audience you are trying to attract? What type of keywords does that audience respond to? This is where your SEO keyword tools come into play. They will help you decide on keywords and give you the statistics on those keywords including the all-important search volume information (if there is no search volume, there are no searchers, and you need a new idea for a website). It is vital to think about your audience, if you create a site without keeping them in mind then you might as well have not created a site at all. Remember, even if you rank number one on a search engine doesn’t mean that searchers will like your site, and if they don’t, they will move on to whomever is number two.

  • Testing- if you think you have an amazing idea for a website but aren’t sure if it will be popular then test it out. This is where PPC (Pay-Per-Click) can come in handy- if you have the funds. Create a few PPC ads describing your potential site and launch them. If you find your ads are getting loads of clicks, then chances are your potential website will be popular as well. If not, then maybe re-think your idea. 
  • PPC can be a really great way of finding out what types of sites people are interested in visiting and what sites they aren’t. Try a couple different ads to see which earns the most clicks. A note of warning: yes,PPC is awesome and helpful, but it is also expensive. So keep an eye on your daily budgets and when you have enough data to draw a conclusion, consider trying for organic optimization on the keywords that are working for you. 
  •  Competitive Analysis- Who else is occupying the space you want? How well do they do it? Are you trying to push your way into a space where there isn’t any room? For example, maybe you have a brilliant idea for a new search engine… well, that’s gonna be an uphill climb! Google owns (I mean OWNS) that space, and if something cataclysmic happened and they no longer ruled then Yahoo, Bing, Ask.com, and many others are queued up to take the top spot.
  • You absolutely have to consider your competitors. If you want to compete in a space that already has a household name, then you might want to consider another idea. On the other hand, if you have a creative or niche idea for a site then it is probably worth proceeding. You just need to have put in the research and analysis into your competitor sites so your website can beat them not only at the ranking but also at popularity. Any decent marketer worth his pricey suit would tell you that in order to compete you have to know the market inside and out- and the same is true online. 

SEO works really well. SEO works better when paired with a focused marketing strategy. It isn’t all about rank (and it truly pains me to say that); it is also about what your audience likes and responds to. You might be the best-optimized site on the internet, but if searchers don’t like your site, they won’t visit and you will have a top ranked mess on your hands. At the end of the day, it’s about getting searchers to come and stay on your site, and that takes a solid marketing strategy.

What Color is the L in Google?

Wednesday 12 Aug 2009 by Lauren Eynon | No Comments
Filed under: Content Strategy, Google, Page Optimization, Search Engine Tags: , , , , ,

Think about it. How many people can answer that question with certainty? I look at the Google logo hundreds of times a day and yet I couldn’t answer that question with 100% confidence. I thought the answer was red…it’s green. The thing that struck me the most about this question is how little attention is paid to the content of a website – even a website you see everyday. 

A little known SEO fact: Many search engine optimizers operate under the idea that no one is ever going to read website content. Quite a shocking revelation considering how often we stress the importance of quality content. It might seem like we are battling windmills we believe to be giants by working so arduously to create meaningful, keyword-focused, valuable content that we don’t believe anyone will read, yet, there is a certain genius to it. Let me explain. Yes, content is extremely important- excellent content is vital because search engines read it and it is a significant aspect of ranking. When bots crawl your site they are looking for keywords and content- and you will be ranked accordingly. If you have no content on your site, you don’t have a hope of generating traffic. If anything, search engine optimizers aren’t being foolish, we are being realistic. We know that content is non-negotiable for search engines and even though we don’t always think people are reading it, quality content is vital for people as well. Even though most people rush through a wesbite, find what they need and rush out, it is still important to have plenty of valuable and informative content for those users who actually want to read it.  It can be so easy for an SEO copywriter to  write only for search engines- it is a habit we all fall into time and again, but we can’t forget that the Internet is for people, not search engines.  This is why your page structure is important, you need to balance the need for  quality content that some visitors want with other visitors need for fast navigation. Hence the use of bold type and large buttons amongst text. You can direct hurried visitors attention towards what it is they are most likely looking for without sacrificing what search engines (and some people) like- which is content.

These are just the realities of SEO, you need solid content but you can’t expect every bit of it to be read by anything other than a bot. Even with that reality to consider you also have to be mindful of who the Internet was created for- man not machine. Bascially what I’m trying to get across is that even though you might not expect anyone to read your content other than a search engine you should still be writing for people- because at the end of the day people are what drive the Internet, not search engines. Does it matter what color the L is in the Google logo? No, what matters is that Google provides valuable content that people find helpful and informative- don’t forget this (even if you forget their color scheme.)

Making Twitter Quiver – The Facebook Acquisition of FriendFeed

Tuesday 11 Aug 2009 by Lauren Eynon | 1 Comment
Filed under: Facebook, Twitter Tags: , , , , ,

The Social Media world is abuzz today regarding the Facebook acquisition of FriendFeed. It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise considering the two companies already had an overlapping relationship. For some time, Facebook users have been able to access a FriendFeed application from their Facebook profiles and it is no secret that Facebook was “inspired” by many Friendfeed features including the ability to “like” someone’s status.

 What does this mean for Facebook and FriendFeed users? Well, for the time being it doesn’t mean anything. Both companies are still working out the long-term details. According to Co-Founder Bret Taylor, FriendFeed will continue to operate normally and the API will remain the same. A more interesting question might be, what does this mean for Twitter? Facebook has been contemplating the best way to compete against this real-time news update titan, and it seems they have found it in FriendFeed. Incorporating FriendFeed’s excellent real-time updates into Facebook means hefty competition for Twitter. Since becoming popular, Twitter has had only one competitive edge over Facebook: their real-time news update capabilities. With the addition of FriendFeed to Facebook, Twitter may have lost their one up.

This merger is very much a meeting of like-minds. Facebook and FriendFeed have very similar ideas about social media and both companies are going to benefit from this integration. Facebook will be gaining real-time news update technology, not to mention the kind-of-a-big-deal ex-Googlers known as the Co-Founders of FriendFeed, some of whom are responsible for Gmail and Google Maps. FriendFeed will be gaining 250 million users worldwide- and that is nothing to shrug at. 

For now, Facebook and FriendFeed users will have to wait to see what changes this means for them. Considering how much overlap there is between the two social media sites, it might be a while before they decide on exactly how to integrate for the long-term; nevertheless, Twitter is most definitely on high alert.

 

 Official Facebook Press Release

Optimizing Your Images – or – The Readability of Your Pictures

Monday 10 Aug 2009 by Lauren Eynon | No Comments
Filed under: Images, Page Optimization Tags: , , , , , , ,

At the end of the day, no one is interested in a website with no images. No matter how compelling, witty, and original your content is, no one (seriously, no one) will read all of it. What I’m trying to impress upon you is the importance of images (especially optimized images) in your site. Please don’t misunderstand my emphasis on images as a slight on text. Sorry, you will still need to create quality copy, not even the best images take precedence over your words, but you have to have some sort of visual appeal in order to dazzle your visitors. Of course, these images and graphics have to be relevant to your site and appropriate for its theme but nevertheless there must be images and graphics. 

Now that we have the issue of the necessity of images and graphics settled, let me advise you on how to use them to your SEO advantage. One of the most overlooked aspects of SEO is the optimization of images. A properly optimized image is one that has a relevant file name (i.e. if your image is a photograph of your grandmother it should be labeled gran.jpg not picture267.jpg). Search engines can read the uploaded file name so using something relevant or, if it makes sense, keyword specific lets them know exactly what the image is and how it relates to your site. Search engines aren’t actual human users, rather they are bots and can’t actually see your images. So, you have to read your images to them. Another way of doing this is by employing the alt tag. An alt tag is the way you label your image or graphic once it has been uploaded to your site. An example of an alt tag would look something like this: (if your image was a tulip) alt=”Red and White Tulip”/> .  It isn’t too complicated and by taking the time to label all your images with an alt tag you might generate an increase in your traffic.

 When labeling your images, keep in mind that not all searches are searches for content. Most search engines have an image search and labeling your images properly is a way to gain visibility there and increase the traffic to your site. Even if you aren’t looking to rank for the images themselves, optimizing them is part of getting a high rank for your website. Remember, search engines can read but they can’t see.

Long-Tail Keywords, a Website's Best Friend

Friday 7 Aug 2009 by Lauren Eynon | 1 Comment
Filed under: Keyword Research, Page Optimization Tags: , , , , , ,

When deciding what keywords to incorporate in the content of your site it can be easy to be put under the short-tail keyword spell. These are phrases made up of one or two keywords and they usually have extraordinarily high search volumes. It seems both logical and alluring to use these keywords profusely throughout your site’s content. After all, they have high search volumes which means all of those searches would be visiting your site. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. In fact, those searches probably won’t ever even see your site. It is (almost) impossible for most websites to rank on these types of terms because much larger websites with much larger budgets are also bidding and competing on these terms- and they will win 99% of the time. This is why long-tail keywords, i.e.  three to four word phrases, can be your website’s best ally in the search rank war. 

Because long-tail keywords are so specific and geared toward a small group of searchers, you have a much much better chance of being the top-ranked website for those terms. Achieving the top rank for a keyword gives you a major advantage over your competitors. Most people click on the first site that comes up in search- and if that site is yours- then you have the best chance of making a searcher a customer. Another benefit of long-tail keywords is the specificity of the term, because it is so targeted the searcher was most likely looking for exactly what you offer. Take a clothing boutique for example. While the owners of the site might be tempted to only target keywords such as “dresses” or “designer jeans,” it will likely be difficult for their site to compete with large internet retailers for search visibility on those terms. On the other hand, if the owners of the boutique target long-tail keywords such as ” Zac Posen cocktail dress”  or ” Dark denim skinny leg jeans” then they are much more likely not only to rank highly but also to receive visits to their site from customers actually looking to purchase what they are offering. Long-tail keywords are much more likely to convert into a sale than short-tail due to the specific nature of the term. 

Since you will be targeting such detailed terms, you will have to create more pages to cover all the different variations. In general, search engines (read Google) are rather fond of websites with many pages due to the fact these websites are more likely to be reputable and knowledgeable. They give the search engine spiders plenty to read and rank, and search engines like that. It never hurts a website to employ methods that search engines respond well to and they respond very well to long-tail keywords.

In the end, it’s a matter or high search volumes without conversion/sales (short-tail keywords), or lower search volumes that translate into revenue (long-tail keywords). I’ll have the revenue, please.

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