Rhonda Sand - Purposeful Africa Non-Profit
June 18, 2009 by Ed Reese · Leave a Comment
I believe it’s important to focus my SEO efforts on good causes when I can. But, between running a business, keeping my mind fresh with new technical content, and spending time with family, I’m not able to take on as many projects as I’d like.
However, I’ve just added a new one to the list and wanted to let you know. It’s a non-profit founded by Rhonda Sand of TMI Tours called Purposeful Africa. I was introduced to Rhonda by Jamie Birch, who is already on board supporting her efforts with a small team from Coeur d’Alene and Spokane volunteering their time and resources. As I’m new to the project, I don’t have much to share other than that I’m on board and looking forward to contributing to their efforts. More details in the coming months…
Contributor - 2009 Local Search Ranking Factors
June 14, 2009 by Ed Reese · Leave a Comment
I was proud to participate in David Mihm’s Local Search Ranking Factors project this year. It has quickly become one of the most anticipated articles in the Local Search industry each year.
David asked 27 Local Search experts to rate the importance of 49 criteria with respect to their influence on rankings in the Google and Yahoo Local “Universal” search algorithms. These are the factors that trigger a local map result from perceived local search queries. Since early 2008 all the major search engines now display a map for locally-focused keywords.
Gain insight into local search drivers and understand how your business can get found in Maps and increase online exposure.
SEO & Social Media Tips, Tools, & Resources
June 11, 2009 by Ed Reese · Leave a Comment
Yesterday I posted a re-cap of steps small business owners can take to engage in social media. It was half re-cap and half articles/tips I’ve found useful. While I’ve heard positive feedback, I feel that it didn’t quite live up to my promise of free tools & tips for business owners, so I wanted to also provide a 100% pure tools & tips post that will provide the ammo small business owners need to get started.
SEO Tools, Tips, & Articles
The Beginner’s Guide to SEO (SEOmoz) OK, I’ll be the first to admit that this is not a quick-and-easy guide to SEO. However, it is the most thorough, detailed, and effective introduction to search engine optimization that I’ve seen. If you’ve got the time to read it and are motivated to learn SEO, this is a great place to start.
The Ten Commandments of Online Marketing for Small Business (David Mihm) This is a fabulous ten step process small businesses can follow to achieve success online. It covers the basics, yet includes all the necessary details you’ll need to know to get started. As David is an SEO like myself, it’s focused on search, but has quite a bit of information on real world strategies, tips, and marketing insight. It’s a must read!
Small Business SEM (Matt McGee) Matt continually provides great content for small businesses. His focus (though technical at times) always caters to small businesses and their needs. He provides great overviews of Internet Marketing as it pertains to business owners. I’d also like to call out his May round-up of the best search & online marketing posts. It’s a great collection of very useful posts in one place.
SEOmoz Blog This blog might be a bit deeper than most folks might want to go into the waters of SEO, but I’ve always been a fan of reaching beyond ones comfort zone. For those that want to go into the deep end of search, consider SEOmoz the tan, smiling, chisled lifeguard there to make sure you stay safe and get out of the ocean alive. They also have a paid section, but there is HUGE value in the free stuff they offer. Their most valuable blog posts (in my opinion) are their White Board Friday Videos. Definitely check them out!
SEOmoz Free SEO Tools If you can’t tell already, I’m a HUGE fan of SEOmoz. They have a great selection of free and paid tools. For small business owners, there are plenty of free tools to get you started.
SEO Book (Aaron Wall) Aaron has a great blog, collection of videos & tools, as well as insight to the industry. He has a paid level as well as eBooks you can purchase. But like SEOmoz, he has plenty of valuable free information and is a great resource. Like SEOmoz, his blog is a daily read of mine.
Claim Your Local Listing (Mike Blumenthal) It’s absolutely imperative for small businesses to claim their local listing. In this post, Mike explains what a local listing is and how to claim it. He also talks about how this prevents someone else from hijacking your local listing. I have seen this happen in Spokane on several occasions, so don’t think this is just a big city thing.
2009 Local Search Ranking Factors (David Mihm) David has quickly established himself as a leader in the local search arena. His yearly ranking factors study has been the local search reference of choice for the past two years. I was honored to have been asked to be one of the 27 SEO’s worldwide to participate in this years study. Much like the SEOmoz Guide, consider this the deep end of the pool. However, it contains some incredibly detailed local search information for those so inclined to dive right in.
Social Media Tips & Articles
Harness the Power of Twitter for Local Marketing (Chris Silver Smith) This article provides a great roadmap (and more importantly, examples) on how to use Twitter to engage with your prospective customers on a local basis.
Leveraging Social Media for Local SEO (Steve Espinosa) Steve provides a great guide and chart to incorporate your social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) for greater reach and local SEO power.
13 Things I’ve learned about Blogging (Darren Rowse’s 500th Post) This is a great supplimental guide to our discussion yesterday. Darren goes over many of the things we discussed and provides more details and insight from his experience and rapid rise in the blogosphere.
ROI and Social Media: Focus on Impressions! (Marketing Sherpa) This quick read reinforces the talk yesterday of the difficulty of correlating ROI to social media efforts while calling out the value of doing so.
How to Manage Your Socia Media Profiles (Social Media Rockstar) This quick guide is a reinforcement of Bethany’s advice from yesterday and will help make your online social life much easier to manage.
11 Ways to Lose Friends & Followers Online (Social Media Rockstar) I really like this post. It points out failings that we have all seen online. I have unfolled many people making these mistakes. It’s a must read!
27 Twitter Applications Your Small Business Can Use Today (Small Business CEO) A great list of useful Twitter tools. Again, Bethany mentioned several of these yesterday, but this list is quite helpful. They don’t include a few I like (Tweetdeck, Twitpic, etc.) but it’s still a good list.
Well, I think that is plenty to get you started. Please let me know if there are other tools, tips, or articles you’ve found useful. Happy to include those as well. Cheers!
Spokane CVB Social Media Event - Resources & Info
June 10, 2009 by Ed Reese · 4 Comments
It’s always insightful to speak to a new group of people at an industry event. I’ve found that It’s sometimes easy to get entrenched within my own four walls and lose touch with the information that people really need to help their businesses succeed. During the Q&A session someone asked the question that was on everyones minds:
“Can you provide a simple guide to help business owners in Spokane understand how to use social media? You know,… no industry jargon, no tech-speak, just simple how-to-get-started information that business owners can quickly digest and implement?”
When I said YES the entire rooms gave a collective “sigh.” So, without further ado, here it is:
7 Steps to Getting Started, Finding your Voice, and Generating Business with Social Media.
1) Find your flavor(s) and get started.
Without re-capping everything from today’s presentations, I’d like to sum it up by merely saying use what works best for you. In my case it’s primarily Twitter & Linkedin. But, I have also found great value in Biznik and LaunchPad. In fact, I’m about to dive into the deep end of the LaunchPad pool. As a Spokane Social Networking Site, it’s a no-brainer to join LaunchPad. Your choice just depends on your personal taste and industry. For example, musicians, actors, and celebrities still have great success using MySpace, but it personally annoys me beyond belief. I use Facebook to communicate with family & friends and try to keep business out of it, but know several people using Facebook with a good amount of business success. Again, it’s all about finding the right platform(s) for your own personal taste.
2) Pimp your profile
Create a unique and customized profile. Fill out relevant details and provide supportive links. Much has been written on this topic. Here are few guides: How to Pimp Your Twitter Profile, Linkedin Profile Tips, Facebook Profile Guide.
3) Set a consistent and realistic posting schedule
A lot of people get really excited about the latest/greatest social networking site and post like crazy for a month or so and then quit. Others find it intimidating and never get started in the first place. I’d recommend finding sites that you’re comfortable with and genuinly believe you’ll use. Then set a posting schedule. Just make sure it’s a realistic one based on your workload and desire to contribute content. Here are a few great reads: Lessons Learned from 3 Years of Blogging, Scheduling Social Media Efforts.
4) Take it off-line
I’ve found this to be the most effective. It’s much like dating on Match.com… You haven’t really had your first date until you’ve met in person. Sure, there are many benefits from being on Twitter and other social media sites without meeting someone in person (exposure, increased relevant connections, etc.). I’ve just found that the in-person meetings are what have created (by far) the most work and overall impact to my business. These are connections that started online but developed into friendships and professional ties in my industry. The Real Power of Twitter does a great job of summarizing these benefits.
5) Contribute and Connect
If you contribute great content in a consistent manner over time you will generate a following. It really is that simple. There are a handful of people that post content that I absolutely look forward to reading. Be one of those people.
6) Understand Analytics
Don’t feel bad if your social media web sites aren’t producing great results online. They tend to not perform as well in the ROI category compared to direct traffic and search. The best post I’ve seen regarding social media and ROI is from Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz. It goes into great detail regarding how social media ROI compares with other avenues. I recommend reading the entire article as well as the numerous comments. Install an analytics platform (like Google Analytics), watch the Google Analytic Training Videos, and if you really get into it, read Avinash Kaushik’s blog Occam’s Razor. It’s amazing!
7) How to use social media to make money and/or increase business
I think social media is very similar to Public Relations in that both have a pretty difficult time claiming a direct correlation between their efforts and revenue. However, from a business reach and exposure standpoint, the impact is HUGE! When performed effectively, it puts your business in front of the right audience of potential clients, develops trust, and helps foster relationships. And when it comes right down to it, people still buy from people. Though we have all this new technology and ways to connect online, it still comes down to relationships, trust, and offering a great product or service.
I hope this has been a helpful guide/follow-up to today’s Social Media Panel. Please let me know if you have any questions. I’m happy to provide additional details. A big thanks to Visit Spokane for inviting me to be part of the panel. Definitely follow them on Twitter @visitspokane to see an example of a great social media effort.
Taylor Pratt - 2009 SEO Bracketologist Champ
April 8, 2009 by Ed Reese · Leave a Comment
This year one of my brackets was with a group of basketball-lovin’ search engine marketers. While I was pretty optimistic after the first weekend, my bracket melted pretty quickly. Taylor Pratt’s did not, however. Taylor is the Principal at Awesome SEO based in Austin, TX. Congratulations to Taylor for rockin’ his bracket and winning for the second straight year. Here’s a full list of the competition from Yahoo Sports. How did I do? Well, let’s just say I won’t be drafted for my bracketology insight anytime soon. I always seem to take Gonzaga a few picks too far. Oh well, one of these years it’ll happen.
Hyperlocal Blogging: Q&A with Matt McGee
March 14, 2009 by Ed Reese · 3 Comments
One of the sessions at Searchfest 2009 that really piqued my interest was the Hyperlocal Blogging presentation from Matt McGee. He was kind enough to answer a few follow-up questions. In addition to publishing four hyperlocal blogs with his wife Cari, Matt is an experienced SEO, hyperlocal blogger, and Assignment Editor to Search Engine Land. With that, let’s move on to the questions:
Matt, so what the heck is hyperlocal blogging, anyway?
Hyperlocal blogging is writing about the streets where you live. It’s blogging about local news, local events, local businesses — anything that’s happening in your hometown, city, street, or neighborhood. Hyperlocal blogs often talk about things that traditional media ignores, the stuff that’s too small or not important enough to a wide range of people.
It was apparent from the analytics you provided that hyperlocal blogging has increased your traffic. Has that translated to increased business?
We think it has, but we’ve been very cautious about using the local blogs as marketing tools, so it’s hard to say for certain. We’re taking a very long-term approach. Our primary goal has been to create four blogs that both users and search engines trust, so we’ve not done much selling of real estate services. Only in the last couple months have we added a content box on every blog post that says, “If you’re looking for real estate help, contact Cari….”
ROI seems to be the toughest thing to measure when it comes to blogging. Have you had success in identifying metrics (increased emails, phone calls, links, media mentions, etc.) that have improved since you started hyperlocal blogging?
Cari has had a steady stream of contacts since the blogs launched last year, with only the normal holiday break in November-December. So, while a lot of real estate agents have seen slowdowns, we’ve been blessed so far to avoid that. But getting precise data about which blog is producing leads has been tough. When Cari asks how someone found her, the most common answer is “You’re all over the Internet!” If they say they found her blog, she’ll ask which one … but most folks don’t seem to remember, and they don’t realize that we have different blogs.
When I go “off topic” in my blog posts, the bounce rate skyrockets. How does your bounce rate compare to a more focused discussion of, say, a real estate agent blogging about real estate information. And if it is higher, do you care or does the increase in traffic more than make up for it?
I don’t pay any attention to bounce rate because, really, we never go off-topic on the local blogs. Anything and everything happening in the community is on-topic, so as long as we don’t start writing about a Pasco event on our Richland blog, we’re fine. The focus (still) is to build a readership, to introduce people to the idea that local blogs exist, to get them in the habit of visiting, and so forth.
But I’ll add this: Our most popular blog post ever was a very recent one about Kanye West appearing on BET-TV wearing a letterman jacket from one of our local high schools. No one has a clue how he got the jacket, why he wore it, etc. That post has had 2-3 weeks of record-setting visits and more comments than any post we’ve written, but we know that most of it is from high school students. So that may seem like a loss. On the other hand, that post is giving Google all kinds of positive click-through data about our blog, it was mentioned in the local newspaper, and even got a link from the paper’s web site — and our paper is very stingy about linking out. So there are other benefits at play here.
It seems like hyperlocal blogging would best benefit businesses that serve a pretty broad spectrum of local consumer needs. Real estate definitely qualifies. Restaurants seem like another industry that could benefit. Are there business profiles/industries particularly well suited for hyperlocal blogging?
I think it’s more about the individual and the approach than the industry you’re in. We all care about where we live, and if you remember that you’re writing a local blog — as opposed to a real estate blog, a restaurant blog, a plumbing blog, etc. — you can make it work. There’s no reason a plumber couldn’t write about (and take photos of) the things s/he sees while out and about every day — new businesses being built, school and community events, road closures, and stuff like that. And then you mix in the occasional plumbing content and you’re doing well.
In closing, what do you see as the main benefits of hyperlocal blogging?
I can only answer this based on our soft-sell, low-marketing approach.
1) It allows you to capture a lot of long-tail, local search traffic … which
2) Increases your visibility/branding in the community … and
3) Can lead to new sales/leads/clients.
4) It’s good — or great, if done right — for SEO.
5) It gives you valuable community knowledge while giving back a valuable community resource.
Matt, thank you very much for your time!
ESPN Pulls Link to UConn/Syracuse Game
March 13, 2009 by Ed Reese · Leave a Comment
Media companies a funny. They want the traffic from social media sources and offer up embedded links to their videos and content in hopes that it creates a viral following. That is, until they get something that is insanely popular. Then, they throw a temper tantrum and yell, “Mine, mine, mine!” That’s what ESPN just pulled with their own video recap of the UConn vs Syracuse 6 OT game in the Big East Tournament. I watched the video this morning and noticed they provided an embeded link in the video and posted it to my web site (giving full credit to ESPN as well as an additional link to the full story). Now the video is pulled due to the popularity of the clip. Sure, you can still get it at ESPN, but they radically changed their sharing policy once they realized it was a good clip. Lame, lame, lame! Not that ESPN cares about what I think about their sharing policy, but it’s just not a good practice. If they genuinly want to engage in social media and have people participate in the conversation they need to keep a consistant policy and go with it. My 2 cents. Rant over.
The Madness Starts Early - UConn vs. Syracuse
March 13, 2009 by Ed Reese · Leave a Comment
College basketball is about to trump all things search for a little while. March Madness started early this year in my book courtesy of a six overtime game between UConn and Syracuse in the Big East Tournament. Yeah, you heard me right, six overtimes. Check out the highlights. It’ pretty freakin’ amazing! Here are a few of the details from this epic battle that lasted until nearly 2am this morning:
- Eight players fouled out
- The game lasted 3 hours, 46 minutes
- They had a combined score of 244 points
- Seven overtimes is the record for college basketball (Cincinnati vs Bradley in 1981)
- The game was 1/10 of a second from being over at the end of regulation
Check out the highlights above or read the details on ESPN. It’s just the beginning of March Madness, baby! Man, I don’t see how Syracuse can have any legs left to play West Virginia tonight.
Oh yeah, I should also let you know that I’ll be “working from home” next Thursday and Friday from an undisclosed location in a secret bunker loaded with flatscreens. I love this time of year!
Searchfest 2009 Recap (Part 1)
March 12, 2009 by Ed Reese · Leave a Comment
In my best Joey Lawrence voice,… “Whoa!” Talk about a great search engine marketing conference. Big props to the SEMPDX crew for putting together such a top quality event. Though it’s a six hour drive from Spokane to Portland, I’m going to join so that I can go to their monthly meetings and talk with the very talented search folks in P-Town (and check out a Blazer game or two). If you are an SEO anywhere near Portland, it’s a no-brainer to join SEMPDX. OK, now for my brief recap. I’m keeping this one short as I’ll be writing more detailed posts on topics over the next few days.
Keynote: Danny Sullivan
Danny was entertaining as always, with a great blend of technical insight, industry experience, and humor. The format of his presentation was largely driven by audience questions generated prior to the event. The majority seemed to come from Cecily Stout, a great SEO out of Fort Collins, Colorado. I always enjoy talking with her at conferences. One of his more interesting points, in my opinion, was the way he broke out social media into several different categories. I’ve personally felt that there are so many different types of social media that it never really made sense to lump them all together. However, this was the first time I’d seen someone really break them apart into more logical categories. It will really help in my discussions with clients.
Local Search: Mary Bowling, Matt McGee, David Mihm, Greg Hartnet
David really did a great job in putting this session together. In fact, I found out later that day that he had a big part in getting the A-List SEO line-up for the conference in general. Nice work! I found the local search session to be one of the most valuable of the day. It provided great content and balance for both agency search marketers and in-house folks. Here are a few high notes:
Matt McGee really got me thinking about, neigh,… planning to join his hyperlocal blogger army. His presentation included the only true case study-esque data of the day, which I appreciate. The crux of his hyperlocal blogging presentation is that if we can believe all the news articles about traditional media dying off, there is a huge opportunity for marketers to present valuable local information to the community and benefit from the additional traffic. He provided some really great data and insight. I’m planning on writing more about his presentation in the next few days.
Then Mary Bowling rocked the house. I’ve seen her present three times now. Every time she presents I can’t help but think “What could possibly be left to talk about?” She just lays it out there. Examples, tactics, strategies, specific advice, etc… Her session convinced me to finally look into using hcards. It also showed my how to better use GLBC attributes to better rank outside of your geographic area (but within your service area). This has been a problem for quite some time for clients. I’m looking forward to implementing her suggestions. Thanks, Mary!
Technical On-Site SEO: Susan Moskowa, Vanessa Fox, Aaron Kahlow
I went into the session looking to get three technical questions answered. Not only did I get them answered, I learned a few other details in the process. Here are my three take-aways from this session.
1) Use webmaster tools more than you do. There’s always a tendancy (at least for me) to use other tools first. Their demonstration of questions that can be solved within Google Webmaster Tools quickly reminded me that I should be using it more.
2) Submit both XML and HTML sitemaps to Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Many people (myself included) are a bit too Google-focused. Sure, it’s by far the dominant player, but do you really want to ignore 20%-30% of the remaining search traffic out there.
3) Bookmark Vanessa Fox’s Jane and Robot web site and go there often. After nearly every technical question that she answered, Vanessa followed the answer with “There’s an example/code/case study/etc. on www.janeandrobot.com.” I checked it out when I got home. It’s awesome! Take a look for yourself.
The big downside of attending at multi-track conference is that you are bound to miss some great presentations. Fortunately, Rebecca from SEOmoz was on the other side of the divider wall and put together an amazing summary of the presentations I missed.
Well, that’s probably enough for one post. I’ll separate my re-cap into three posts and then delve into a few more details. All in all, a great event. For those who missed, I’d definitely check it out next year.
Off to Searchfest!
March 9, 2009 by Ed Reese · 1 Comment
I’m incredibly excited to be heading off to Searchfest today. This is one action-packed-bang-for-the-buck search engine marketing conference. Portland really has a tight SEO community and is really getting a strong reputation in the industry. They have really brought in the talent. The only downside is that there is so much great content that I’m going to miss some really amazing presentations as they have two concurrent tracks. In fact, I still haven’t decided if I’m going to attend “How to Grow Your SEM Biz” session or “SEO Tips from the Trenches.” It’s just a great agenda. There’s also the Danny Sullivan wildcard. You just never know where he’ll go during his keynote, but it’s always interesting and entertaining. I’ll be coming back with some of the latest and greatest SEO strategies and techniques. I can’t wait to tell you about it.