Conversation Marketing
Average of 16 posts per month.
September 1
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07:13 PM
I presented yesterday at the SEOMOZ Pro Seminar. I had the incredible misfortune of going right after Rand Fishkin, aka SEO Rockstar, aka He of the Fashionable Wardrobe. But it was still a blast. It was one of a bunch of great moments at my first Mozinar. I heartily recommend it to anyone looking to really learn SEO. Here's why:
- You'll learn real stuff. Every presenter comes on stage with executable to-do's and examples. I've never attended a training seminar that delivered as much hard information in a short timespan. I learned new stuff. I'm not saying that to somehow imply I Know All SEO. It's just rare that I attend a seminar and find myself scribbling notes like "check out [insert cool spreadsheet here] when I get home!"
- You'll meet SEO celebrities, and get to talk to them. You don't just get to meet folks like Will Critchlow and Rand Fishkin. You can actually talk to them. Go to the Garage after party and you can even talk to Ben Hendrickson about LDA. Just bring a tape recorder so you can play it back after your brain short-circuits.
- It's well organized. Don't underestimate the importance of logistical brilliance. The Pro seminar went off without a hitch, at least from where I sat. Everything was impeccably put together, from food to schedule to wifi. It let everyone focus on learning.
- They provide Hagen Daaz ice cream. Double chocolate. Need I say more?
- Everyone there is focused but open. The entire crowd was great. They were there to learn, and soaked up everything they could. But they also shared tons of their own experiences, making for a perfect balance of students and instructors.
I'm not getting anything for writing this. Hell, SEOMOZ and their partner companies are kind of competitors. But you have to acknowledge great stuff when you see it: Go to this seminar next year. You won't be sorry.
Unrelated, but maybe you can buy before you give SEOMOZ all your money
September 1
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06:37 PM
This post expands on one of the ten blogging tips I presented at the SEOMOZ pro seminar yesterday. I'll be writing about the others over the next few weeks, and will tie them all together when they're done.
I'm not a video guy. I know I use screencasts a lot, but the idea of having to watch myself on screen is about as itch-inducing as sleeping in a pile of rotting vegetables.
But, video has its place. First, getting a video to rank for a given phrase is a hell of a lot easier than getting a page to rank. Second, videos can grab attention where text just can't.
So, when I do post a video to a site, I want it to get indexed, right the heck now.
Alas, a video I posted a few weeks ago felt anti-social. I cajoled. I bribed. I promised it candy and screen time. I bought it presents. But it stood at the door to the Google index, stamped its foot and said "I'M OPPOSED TO YOU DAD".
Actually, that's what my then-two-year-old son declared when I refused to buy him a chocolate chip cookie, but it's a great line and I wanted to use it. So there.
The video just refused to get indexed. In a moment of total desperation, I threw together a video sitemap and pointed Google Webmaster Tools at it.
Twelve hours later, the video was indexed and ranking for its title:
I even grabbed a ranking for 'intermediate SEO training' for another, equally stubborn video that I included in the map:
That can't be a coincidence. It's not even happenstance. It's a bona fide correlation.
So be sure you use video sitemaps. They clearly have a huge impact on video indexation. My only qualifier: It's possible video XML sitemaps only seem to have a huge impact, because there are far fewer videos out there than, say, images or HTML pages. But I'll keep testing and post updates as events warrant.
Best practices for video sitemaps
A few quick tips, and sample code:
- Use a video hosting service. It doesn't have to be YouTube. I use Vimeo in the example below. But there are some nice benefits, not the least of which is Vimeo will generate a thumbnail for you. Since Google requires a thumbnail, it's a major timesaver.
- Write good descriptions. I included 'intermediate SEO training' in the video:description tag of my sitemap. That has to have helped me rank for that phrase.
- Use accurate tags. Don't just slap in a few video:tag tags. Make sure you write useful ones.
- Use a separate XML sitemap for videos. Yes, Google lets you mix 'em all together now. But Bing doesn't. Plus it's a lot easier to manage.
Here's the code of the sitemap I did, too. Feel free to rebuild it using your own info:
Related, revamped, reconquered
August 27
—
03:33 PM
It's true.
As egos go, mine is a bit small, damp and non-resilient. So, when I search for my own name on the web, it's mostly to see who's writing mean things about me and making ready to defend myself.
Years ago, I set up a page on Wikipedia, so that someone I knew in 7th grade couldn't come along and write about how, at that age, I looked like ET with a wig.
Imagine my surprise, then, to find out that I'd been marked for death speedy deletion:
Note that I check in on my Wikipedia account about once a year, so I didn't see this until far too late. My page has already been deleted.
I never thought it would end like this...
What does Aaron Wall got that I don't?
Sniff.
August 26
—
09:02 PM
I've heard it sooo many times:
"But I didn't know!!!!"
That comes shrieking forth shortly after this chain of events:
- CEO hires a Guru to develop their web marketing plan.
- Guru comes in, collects check and nods sagely while saying stuff "Engage your audience".
- Guru writes down a plan with steps like "Get good links".
- CEO hands plan to marketing department.
- Marketing department, afraid to tell the CEO she's an idiot, executes the plan, which also happens to execute most of the company, too.
- A year later, CEO has no marketing budget left, a lot of unhappy customers and zero results.
- CEO says...
"But I didn't know!!!!"
I'm going to be charitable and assume that the CEO really didn't know. In spite of years of experience and being 'a great judge of character', CEO hired Bozo the Clown to create their internet marketing plan and got screwed.
Here's how you avoid it next time, whether you've already hired the Guru or not. Follow this checklist, hold whoever's doing your internet marketing plan to it, and you'll come out OK. Your internet marketing plan must:
- Be no longer than six months. You can't plan beyond that. Six months ago, we were talking about economic recovery. Now, I'm stealing spare change from my kids' jeans when it falls out in the dryer. Things change in a hurry. The marketing plan should define how you'll adapt, not predict the future.
- Include search engine optimization, and probably paid search, too. If you still doubt that, do whatever you want - it won't make a difference anyway.
- Have a content strategy that does not declare that 'existing resources' will do all the writing. 'Existing resources' really means 'too slow to avoid being volunteered'. That's not how you develop great content.
- Include outreach. One way or another, your marketing plan needs to describe how you'll reach out to influential folks in your industry, in the blogging world, in the media, etc.. Without them, you'll fail.
- Build in a great analytics plan. Your marketing plan must list key performance indicators (KPI's, for those who need nice TLAs), how you'll measure them, and where you'll store the data.
- Account for existing customers, too. It's a lot easier to keep existing customers happy than it is to get new ones. Does your internet marketing plan lay out how you'll reach out to them? No? Tsk. Your Guru is a goner.
- Include Facebook. Hey, I don't like jumping on the Facebook bandwagon either. But there are so many people twiddling away their lives on Facebook you'd be crazy not to try to reach .001% of them. I don't care if you make airliners - you still need a presence there.
- Build the house list. The house list is still your greatest asset. Depending on your audience, that house list might be e-mail, or Twitter followers, or Facebook fans. But it is still your best marketing tool.
- Nurture. One way or another, your internet marketing plan needs to keep in touch with potential customers, and not toss them out with the trash if they don't convert on the first shot.
- Test. If his Guru-ness doesn't include testing in the marketing plan, roll up the plan, shove it up their left nostril and then ask, in a quiet voice, if they could pretty please rewrite it and include testing this time. Never, ever assume your campaign will succeed on the first try. Plan for iteration.
- Be reasonable. If you seriously think you're going to go from 5 to 50,000 customers in six months while spending less than $15,000, total, you're either insane, high, or Steve Jobs. Only that last one has a prayer.
- Do the math. Easiest way to check on #11: Do the math. Your marketing plan should put a dollar value on a customer, and provide a worst-case estimate for acquiring that customer. If the latter is 10x the former, consider making a change or two, k?
That's it. Check off these 12 items - your plan may not be perfect, but it won't implode, either.
I dunno
August 24
—
05:39 PM
Lisa Barone's post today about a tax on business bloggers, and the squawking and flapping that ensued thereafter, got me thinking about 'fair' versus 'honest'. Especially in the world of marketing.
In marketing, 'fair' doesn't exist
I find that when folks start talking about 'fair', what they mean is 'fair for me and mine.' Or maybe 'easy'.
'Fair' is relative: I'm a cyclist. I drive a Toyota Prius. So raising gas prices to $5/gallon and doubling the size of bicycle lanes seems perfectly fair to me. You, on the other hand, are getting ready to let loose a tirade of car-loving American outrage in the comments section.
I've had potential clients tell me I was 'unfair' because my prices were too high for them. While I sympathize (I'd love to buy a Fisker Karma, but it's out of my price range), it has nothing to do with 'fair'. It's about the value I deliver, and whether it's worth it to you.
God, I'm starting to sound like a Republican. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Some of my best friends are Republicans...
Anyway, in marketing, don't look for fair. Marketing is not about fair. It's about crushing every other competitor in the room in horrifying, brutal fashion, while you all smile at each other.
In marketing, 'honest' is the only way to go
Then there's 'honest'. Honest is a whole other lump of beeswax.
Good marketing is always honest.
By definition, good marketing helps people choose the best products/services for them through clear, compelling communications. It's not about fooling people into buying crap. It's not even about fooling people into buying great stuff they don't really want.
I know what you're going to say: 'Honest' is subjective. It's relative. There's no one 'honest'.
I beg to differ. When someone lies, however artfully, you know i. Remember "I did not have sex with that woman!"? How about "No new taxes"? Or that SEO 'professional' who says they guarantee a #1 ranking in 2 weeks?
They're lying. You know it.
Great marketing doesn't lie. That's why it's so hard to market lousy products. "Our product doesn't suck as much as you think" isn't terribly compelling.
I'm guilty
I'm not preaching this as some great principled person, by the way. I've shut down my honesty detector often enough, trying to help clients market utterly worthless products because I either liked the client personally or was flattered they even knew I existed.
But it still wasn't about some relative definition of 'honest'. And, more often than not, I used the word 'fair' to justify my work. "It's only fair that they get a shot at the market," I'd tell myself. Oops.
The internet is not an excuse
By the way, selling online doesn't give you a pass to be a dishonest piece of crap, either. People who steal content, lie about products and services or deceive consumers into providing their personal information don't get a pass just because they're on the web.
Internet marketing needs to be honest, too.
So, repeat "Great marketing is honest. Not fair." 10 times every morning. It'll help you as a consumer and a marketer.
Related and recent
August 20
—
01:43 PM
Google just announced a change to their algorithm: They're now going to show more pages from a single domain for certain queries.
You're tempted to run out into the street, strip naked with sheer joy and yell OMG all our troubles are over reputation management now a cinch!!!
Wrooooong. Stay inside. Keep yer clothes on. Google's webmaster blogging team is as detailed as ever (cough). They use the query 'exhibitions at amnh' as their example, and sure enough, that turns up 7 results from from amnh.org:
That may seem like a sign that you'll dominate page 1 of the rankings for any branded search, but not so. Oh, if you're a big brand, or a well known institution like the American Museum of Natural History, you're golden. AMNH dominates page one for a brand query:
Alas, for us mere mortals, that's not the case. Do a search for 'Portent Interactive', and you'll see only two listings:
Search for 'Portent Interactive info', on the other hand, and you get seven results from my company's site:
I did 6 other tests, comparing big and small sites. Same result. If you're Toshiba, you're smiling. If you're Solar Joos, no change when it comes to a search for our brand name.
The way it (seems) to work
Here's how the new algo appears to work: If you're a big, big brand or organization, you can grab 5-7 of the top 10 positions with pages from your own domain whether someone searches for [brand name] + [informational keyword] or just [brand name].
If you're a small brand/organization, though, you can only grab 5-7 of the top 10 positions for [brand name] + [informational keyword].
Uh. Why, exactly?
Google: Big brand bias, for real?
A lot of well-known SEO bloggers believe that Google now biases their organic rankings towards big brands. I don't think Google's intentionally set out to favor big brands, myself. I think it's a side effect of their algorithm. But that doesn't change the result. It's sure easier to rank big if you are big.
This new change seems a little more ominous to me. If this algorithm change applies to all brands and sites for informational searches, why wouldn't it apply to all brands and sites for brand searches, too? I mean, if someone searches for 'Portent Interactive', isn't it pretty obvious they're interested in my web site?
I have no answer. I'm going to go buy some tin foil for a hat, though...
Recent randomness
August 20
—
01:32 PM
Heather Lloyd-Martin knows SEO copywriting like I know sarcasm. She's coming to Seattle September 15, 2010 to teach her SEO Copywriting Training course - if you've already read my SEO copywriting e-book and want a full day of hands-on, in-depth training, you need to go to this seminar.
The specifics:
When: September 15, 2010, 9-4 PM
Where:Coast Bellevue Hotel, 625 116th Avenue Northeast, Bellevue, WA.
Cost: $895 until September 1, 2010, then $995
Some people will say "I can't afford that". Seriously? If you learn the necessary skills to grab a top 3 position for a phrase, that's not worth $900? Well OK then. Your business is screwed anyway - save the $900 for your next business license.
Get all the info, and sign up, here.
I am not being paid, compensated, bribed or blackmailed into this. I just happen to know Heather is a great SEO copywriter and trainer.
August 19
—
07:54 AM
Link building is all about risk management.
There are lots of ways to build links. But search engines do not like to be manipulated. They work constantly, with lots of really smart people, to find ways to filter out links secured purely for SEO purposes.
That makes many forms of link building risky, because:
- Search engines do not consistently apply the rules. You may see your competitors doing something and getting away with it. You try it a few weeks later and bam: Penalty.
- The rules change. What's safe one week might not be safe the next. That's life.
- Your competitors are going to report you. If they're search-savvy, they're watching for anything they think might be a bad practice, and they'll report you at the drop of a hat.
Here's my risk management chart for link building:
Link building risk management [pdf]
Other stuff
August 17
—
07:09 PM
50% of SEO (search engine optimization, in case you live under a big rock, or you've never been to this blog before) is staying out of the way, staying out of trouble, and letting search engines find everything on your web site. It should be easy, but people seem to constantly create new ways to get in the way. Here's one of my favorite examples: The exploding URL, AKA...
The Duplication Toilet Bowl of Death
There are lots of little problems that can generate duplicate URLs. But the worst is the Exploding URL, aka the Duplication Toilet Bowl of Death.
URL stands for 'uniform resource locator' - the unique address for any one page or file on your web site. It's very, very important that you have one unique URL for each page - read the canonicalization series for the in-depth explanation, or read my Search Engine Land article on the same subject for the digest version.
Say you have a site that delivers different content to people who live in different cities. You let folks choose by clicking on a map. Once they click, you add a query string like "?city=seattle" on to the end of the URL.
Good so far.
But developers will often use shortcuts for situations like this, where they read whatever the current URL is and then tack on the additional information to the existing query string. So, if I clicked Seattle, then came back and clicked Manhattan, I could end up with:
www.mysite.com?city=seattlecity=Manhattan
Don't roll your eyes at me. This is from a real-life example.
Keep going and you end up with all sorts of fun stuff, like:
www.mysite.com?city=seattlecity=Manhattancity=seattlecity=fargocity=troycity=buffalocity=bend
And, since you carry that information to every page on your site, you carry the duplicate content love all over the place, getting fun addresses like:
www.mysite.com/locations.html?city=seattlecity=Manhattancity=seattlecity=fargocity=troycity=buffalocity=bend
www.mysite.com/contact.html?city=seattlecity=Manhattancity=seattlecity=fargocity=troycity=buffalocity=bend
www.mysite.com/store.html?city=seattlecity=Manhattancity=seattlecity=fargocity=troycity=buffalocity=bend
Right down the toilet bowl. Of DEATH.
Right. Like THAT'll happen
You'll probably say "But Ian, most people just click one city. What do I care of some OCD lunatic clicks every city on the map?"
You care because search engines are OCD lunatics. If you have a map with, oh, 50 cities on it, and a search engine follows the link for every city, you end up with over 2000 possible versions of every page on your site.
That's a teeny, tiny duplicate content and canonicalization problem. If a visiting search engine spider has a crawl allotment of 500 URLs, it could potentially spend its entire allotment on one or two pages.
Detection and fix
The easiest way to detect this problem is to study your log files, if possible. Grab the logs and grep for one any URL that contains a query string.
Another way is to perform a site: search on Google, like this:
site:www.mysite.com
Click through to the very last result. If you see a message like this:
Show the omitted results and check them for exploding URLs. Note, though, that Google may be filtering out the duplicates. Reading your log file is the only sure thing.
The fix: Either set a cookie on the visitor's machine that stores the most recently selected city, or remove the old attribute before adding the new one. Sounds simple, I know. Actually, it is simple. Ask your developer to fix it - they can probably do it in a couple of minutes.
Other ways to head down the toilet bowl
There are lots of other ways to end up with exploding URLs:
- A "from" or "nav" attribute you add to URLs to track the page from which a visitor came;
- A faulty 'email a friend' link;
- A site that adds sessionIds to every page (arghhh);
- Using 'Get' instead of 'Post' in a form.
The good news is, if you've got this problem, it's easy to clear up, and your SEO numbers will probably skyrocket as soon as you do.
Related, unrelated, and third cousins
August 16
—
03:42 PM
Per my post of a few minutes ago, I can laugh at simple-minded content thieves. But, as I've said in the past, so-called 'professional marketers' who steal other agencies' sites and copy need to go to a special circle of Hell.
Today, I bring you Caerus Digital, an agency apparently located in New Jersey, not far from where I grew up.
Here's their home page, with stolen text highlighted:
I found them with my traditional search-for-the-first-sentence trick.
But then a little voice in my head said, hey, this looks familiar:
So I suspect they actually lifted our entire site design, pausing only to crapify it in the hopes that no one would notice.
They even copied our internal pages:
Again, editing juuuuust enough to avoid (I guess) a cease and desist.
I'm not a total jerk
I'm not a total scumbag. I've certainly used other sites as models for projects. I've figured out how to create a button style I really like.
But I've never cut-and-paste entire sentences in the process. And by the way, that could not have been an accident. Our site uses a little javascript to insert a link back to us if you cut-and-paste our copy. So, they copied our writing, deleted the inserted link, and kept right on going.
Hmmm. Intent. If I remember from law school, that means something...
Nevertheless, I'll give Caerus some benefit of the doubt - maybe, even though they're a digital agency, they hired another agency to do their site, and those folks copied ours. Then Caerus decided not to check any of the site to make sure it was original, threw it up on the web and went to work. Hell, anything's possible.
Regardless, this really hacks me off. In case you couldn't tell.
Unrelated nonsense
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