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Author: Search Influence Alumni

  • Google homepage logo: A glimpse into my childhood

    I don’t know how many of you have been to the Google homepage today, but steer clear unless you want to waste countless minutes playing with bouncing balls. Ahhh, it’s like my childhood all over again. Google unveiled their newest interactive logo today but unlike all the others, the reason for this one remains a mystery.

    The logo is made of interactive balls that scatter and bounce once you drag the mouse over it. After a bit, they reconvene to make up a dotted version of the classic logo we’ve all come to love.

    Pictured: Love

    So what’s the story? Well, no one really knows. Every other time they’ve changed their logo, you could get the scoop simply by clicking it. No such luck with this one.

    Some speculation revolves around Google toying with html5.  Others say it’s for their birthday since the site was founded on September 4, 1998. Are they really twelve already? They’re growing up so fast. Soon Google will be a teenager! I wonder if for their thirteenth birthday they’ll make the logo out of interactive acne spots…

    Gross imagery aside, I don’t care about the reason because this thing is fun. If you don’t see it initially, make sure you click “Go to classic Google” and you’ll find it there. Happy birthday, Google! And happy bouncing, everybody else.

  • The Dangers of Duplicate Content

    So you have decided to take your business’s marketing to the next level and you hire a company that guarantees you a functional Web site, which will attract customers and grow your business. Seems flawless, right? Not necessarily.

    The next thing you know, the site does not rank on any search engine and you turn to a SEO company to see what can be done. After implementing SEO tactics, if your site is still not ranking when searched organically, you may have the great problem of duplicate content.

    Many times, companies that create Web sites tailored to particular industries (such as Internet Dental Alliance and Mentor Solutions) use template site layouts and content. All of the information filling your Web site about your procedures or services are not unique and are most likely being used for another client somewhere in the country and what’s worse: it may be used for another client in your area.

    In a market as small as New Orleans,  you may still rank on the first page of Google – along side your competitors – in spite of the duplicate content. This is the case for certain New Orleans dentists that have used Internet Dental Alliance to create their Web sites: City Park Dental Care (neworleanscosmeticdental.com), Today’s Dental Cosmetic and Family Dentistry (cosmeticdentistneworleans.com) and  NOLA Dental Care (cosmeticdentalneworleans.com). However, there still has to be a winner and a loser and the winner in the search for  “Cosmetic Dentist New Orleans” is City Park Dental. (Click to enlarge.)

    Superficially, all these sites look somewhat different, but they all have a similar structure. Although, there is not duplicate content on every page of these sites, the two dentists above that offer the Invisalign procedure do enter the duplicate content zone. Check out their sites:

    City Park Dental Care
    NOLA Dental Care

    In some ways, the sites are different visually,  but the images are the same and, most importantly, so is the text. The problem of duplicate content has nothing to do with plagiarism, by the way, but search engines can tell when content is duplicated and will grant authority to a site through a varying combination of factors including which has the “original” content, which is has an older domain, or which the greater number of authoritative inbound links. If scales don’t shift in your site’s favor, then you will be pushed down the rankings, especially if your market is highly competitive.

    Though there are several factors that deem a site “authoritative,” any way you search for it, NOLA Dental Care does not rank as well as City Park Dental Care for the invisalign procedure. In this case, the only solution is to rewrite and completely restructure the page and its content to increase in rank.

    Search Influence Account Manager, Eva Moran, recommends that business owners or staff members write their own unique content capturing their particular voice, sentiment and expertise on the subject and then passing it off for optimization review.

    Also, you may think twice before using a service that guarantees you (and everyone else!) an effective Web page. It is worth investing on a Web site that isn’t generated from a template to avoid duplicate content and gain visibility on search engines.

    For more information on duplicate content in other situations, Google has some great insights here.

  • Website Goals: Convert Traffic to Sales!

    What is the function of your website?  Do you use your website as an information tool?  Do you use it as an arm of your sales team?  Why not have your website do both?  Too often small business owners focus on creating a flashy, aesthetically pleasing website. Instead, they should focus on a website that produces results.

    The Web Analytics Association defines conversion as a “percentage of a visitor type who complete a multistep conversion process with a defined beginning and end within 30 minutes, whether it be signing up for a newsletter, buying a product online or some other desired outcome.”

    Turn this into cash!

    How can you turn your website into more conversions? Below are a few pointers:

    Call to Action

    Think about it. How are you supposed to create conversions without a call to action? Each page of your site should include one or more of the following: a form to request more information, your phone number prominently displayed, somewhere to sign up for a newsletter, or a purchasing option.

    Create Goals

    Define what type of conversion you want from your website and what a conversion means to your business. Many business owners have not identified what conversion means for their site. Each business is unique and every website has different objectives. It is imperative that you properly define a conversion. In order to be considered a conversion, the site visitor must take some form of action. This can include completing an online form, signing up for a newsletter, or picking up the phone and calling.

    Track your Goals

    Once you have defined what you classify as a conversion, track it. Use tools like Google Analytics to discover where your conversions are coming from and focus your marketing efforts on these areas.

    Provide Information that Helps Consumers Make Purchasing Decisions

    Most consumers are on your site looking for a reason to purchase your product. They are not looking for a flashy picture or video that lacks quality information. Provide the consumer with a reason to purchase your product or service.

    Having people visit your site is great, but having people visit your site and purchase your product or service is better. Your site can be more than a flashy information tool; it can make you money!

    You like money, don't you?

  • The Whopper Sacrifice on Facebook is Finally Sacrificed

    Whopper Sacrifice Picture
    The Whopper Sacrifice Comes to an End

    Not enough people know about sweet little pieces of code that run on your web pages that show you how many people came to visit your site, where they came from, how long they stayed, and how many of those visits converted into actual dollars. Sure, Google Analytics might not be on the tips of the tongues of, oh, say 500 million people. But Facebook is.

    Everyone who looks at this little gem below knows how well this viral internet marketing campaign worked, and how effective Facebook is when you want to reach the masses.

    A few months ago, Burger King decided to offer a free Whopper to anyone who would sacrifice 10 of their friends on Facebook. I mean, the average user has 130 friends. Who wouldn’t go down to 120 just to have a free tasty treat? Who wouldn’t wallow in self-pity for joy knowing their cyber friendship was given up for a free piece of meat?

    Apparently this viral marketing campaign worked well– maybe too well. The fine print says, “Facebook® has disabled WHOPPER® Sacrifice after your love for the WHOPPER® Sandwich proved to be stronger than 233,906 friendships.”

    Two hundred and thirty three thousand, nine hundred and six.

    Whopper Sacrifice Ends on Facebook
    Whopper Sacrifice Ends on Facebook

    These stats from viral marketing goldmine Facebook give so much more power to the phrase, “It’s all about who you know.”

    Facebook has more than 500 million active users. People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. There are over 900 million objects that people interact with (pages, groups, events and community pages). The average user creates 90 pieces of content each month. More than 30 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each month.

    So what did Burger King find out from Facebook? That it works. And that makes me hungry.

  • Facebook Places: Aiming their Sights on Google and Foursquare

    It looks like Facebook isn’t going to take Google’s attack lying down, and they’ve got Foursquare in their sights as well. They’ve just announced a new mobile application called Places, which allows users to check-in at various businesses they visit. Businesses can also claim their listings and post additional information. Does all this sound familiar? It’s essentially nothing more than a combination of Google Places and Foursquare.

    So what’s the interface going to be like? It’ll display a map, a list of friends currently checked-in, and an activity stream with friends who have checked in there in the past. The best feature, in my opinion, is the ability to post stories or reviews to your wall by clicking the “Share” button. I assume it’ll also post a blurb on your wall when you just check-in as well, so it’s like word of mouth but on a much grander scale.

    It’s currently available only in the United States to those who have the most current version of the iPhone application, or on touch.Facebook.com. It’ll be available to users of other mobile devices in the future, so all you Android users can stop whining!

    So will it be able take down Foursquare and Google Places? Yes and no. Yes, it can take down Foursquare but Google Places will not be defeated. It’s too valuable on an SEO level to go by the wayside. Foursquare, on the other hand, is still a little too new. It‘s a David and Goliath battle… if David were a baby. It’s a genius move on Facebook’s part. It’s taking a popular social media tool and easily integrating it into their program. As much as I like Foursquare, it’s just another app to use on my phone. If I can do it all on Facebook, I will. Sorry, Foursquare!

  • Top 5 SEO Apps for Your iPhone

    With the recent release- and my more recent acquisition- of the new iPhone 4, I decided to do a little digging and compiled a list of the best SEO apps offered by the App store. My goal here is to make your productivity folder as cramped and overflowing as mine.

    1) Domainer

    This was one of the first SEO apps offered back in 2008 and it’s incredibly simple, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Just enter the URL for the page you want to check and Domainer provides the PageRank on Google, as well as some basic history. Free.

    2) Poke SEO

    This app does what the previous one does, plus a bit more. Not only does it check PageRank, it also checks backlinks for Google, Bing and AOL. The best feature of this app is the ability to email the reports you dig up. It’s no longer available in the App store because they are busy working a new version, which will be released in the future. Keep an eye out!

    3) iSEO Tools

    iSEO Tools has three great functions. It contains a SERP Analyzer that lets you know what page your keyword ranks on Google. It also has an inbound links analyzer that utilizes the Yahoo Site Explorer service to see how many links are associated with your domain. Last, there is a function that shows a list of directories. This option is fantastic because it allows you to submit a link right from the app! $0.99.

    4) SEO Ranking

    This app allows you to monitor an unlimited number of domains and keywords, and uses a graph SERP analyzer to monitor your current and past rankings on Google. A great on the go tool. $1.99

    5) Analytics App

    This isn’t from Google Analytics, but it’s the closest thing you’ll find to it on the iPhone.  It allows you track all your basic stats in Analytics, including visitors, traffic and content. It allows multiple accounts and even has the ability to create event tracking and custom reports. It’s pricier than the rest, but is well worth it. $6.99

  • Top 10 for the Weekend- August 13

    We’re back with another thrilling installment of our bi-monthly series: Top 10 for the Weekend! Keep reading to find out tips and tricks, as well as what’s new in the world of SEO

    Great Apps to Customize Your Facebook Fan Page

    Facebook recently hit a new milestone: 500 million users! With this high volume it is a perfect platform for marketing, and people are already taking advantage of this opportunity. Here is a list of great apps that allow you to customize your fan page to its fullest potential.

    35 of the Best Facebook Fan Pages

    To go along with the above link, here is a fantastic list of fan pages that have taken full advantage of Facebook’s customizable applications. Some examples include pages from the likes of Skittles, Red Bull, and Harley Davidson.

    Forrester to Advertisers: Hold Off on Foursquare

    Forrester Research recently came out with a study that revealed 84% of people polled are not familiar with location-based applications, a la foursquare. This is useful information, but they conclude that businesses should hold off on using these FREE services because of it. This article explains why their conclusion should not follow their results.

    Foursquare Means Businesses: Have you checked-in yet?

    We’ve never been shy in our support for foursquare, and this link is a perfect follow-up to the previous one. The article just lists some more of the many advantages to utilizing this and other location-based applications.

    10 Sources For Better Conversion

    Getting people to your site is only half the battle. Once they’re there, you need to get them do whatever it is you want them to do. In the SEO world, this is known as conversion. This is a list of 10 resources that explain how to get better conversions on your site.

    Local Citation Finder: Must-Have SEO Tool

    From the article: “The tool looks at the businesses ranking for your keyphrase, grabs their phone numbers, and then does a Google.com search (or .ca or .co.uk) for those numbers, collecting and collating all of the mentions/citations that it finds.” In other words, you can get a list of citation sources your competitors use, and mimic them. Nice and easy!

    10 Great Local Search Tools That Don’t Exist Yet

    It’s pretty clear what this article is about, so I won’t bore you with an explanation. I will say that these tools would be incredibly easy to make, and some of these developers need to get on the stick!

    On-Site SEO: How to Optimize Your Blog Posts

    A blog is a great tool for SEO, but simply posting one every week or so won’t be that great of a help. This is a great guide on how to optimize your blog to maximize your exposure on the web.

    Using Bing’s New Webmaster Tools For SEO

    Bing recently released a new version of their Webmaster Tools. Upon being asked by Bing to give feedback on how to improve it, Chris Smith decided to provide this advice via blog post for the world to see.

    Google’s New Local UI Proving Conspiracy Theorists Right

    In our last installment of Top 10 for the Weekend, we discussed some changes Google made to their SERPs and Places listings. It looks like the conspiracy theorists were right. This article explains why.

  • Google Wave has reached its Crest

    In an earlier post, we discussed Google Wave and its pros and cons.  Well, less than a year after it’s launch, you can wave it goodbye. See what I did there? Despite its loyal fan base, Wave just didn’t get the following they’d hoped for. So, they decided to pull the plug.

    When it was first announced, it caused shock waves (OK, I’ll stop) through the Internet community. It was touted as an “email killer.” The hype was out of control. So much so, that I wondered if it was going to be able to live up to it. I guess I didn’t have to wait too long for my answer.

    So why did it fail? I’ve got a few theories. First, I think Google’s marketing department dropped the ball on this one.  Perhaps they think they’re above effective and creative marketing. The entire Internet is Google’s marketing department, after all. Hopefully, they’ve realized this just isn’t the case. If you’re not a total geek who spends hours browsing the web for the latest technologies (like me), chances are you haven’t even heard of Google Wave. The majority of people I’ve asked haven’t. It goes to show that no matter how great or revolutionary a product is you still need to get the word out. Google failed in that regard.

    Next, it was just little too complicated for the average user. One might argue that it wasn’t designed for the average user, but without them it’ll fail to get mass recognition. The best way to get people to use something is to have more available features but to make it as simple and easy to use as possible. There is no way my grandma would be able to use Wave, even though she can use email and even Facebook.

    eCards on the other hand…

    Another reason is that I honestly think it was too ahead of its time. I know I gave it some grief in our previous blog, but I really think it was a revolutionary and useful tool. People weren’t ready for something so advanced. They liked the simplicity and straight forwardness of email and didn’t see a need to change.

    Speaking of change, people just don’t like it. It’s the same reason my mom still uses Internet Explorer and Hotmail.

    Wave will still be available for use through the end of the year and Google will extend the technology to its other projects, so it won’t disappear completely. For those who simply can’t live without it, rejoice. There are many alternatives out there. Unfortunately some are paid, but if it is that important to your daily routine it should be worth it. If you absolutely refuse to pay, design your own, cheapskate! The code and protocols are open source, so you can continue the innovation yourself!

  • The Bing and Yahoo alliance means the end of Yahoo Local, right?

    As we reported in an earlier post, there are things to consider now that the Bing and Yahoo alliance is coming so near. Starting sometime in August or September, Yahoo’s organic search results will be fully provided by Bing, which will increase their organic search market share from 11% to 27%. Wouldn’t it be great if this meant an end to Yahoo Local, leaving you with only Bing and Google local listings to worry about?

    Sadly, that is not going to happen. Yahoo plans to maintain control of the search experience, and it includes Yahoo Local as a part of that. As Yahoo quotes here, it will be “Providing you with rich results that display the most relevant information from Yahoo!’s rich content properties, as well as other great product, local, entertainment, reference, social and tech sites.”

    Look at the picture above and you will see boxes around the organic and paid search results—these will be provided by Bing, the rest will be provided by Yahoo, including local listings.

    If you are a local business owner this might not mean much to you, but if you’re an SEO that cares about local listings you won’t get any of the relief you might have anticipated and will still need to claim your listings on all 3 search engines.

  • Facebook Insights UI Problems

    Why I Dislike Facebook Insights

    As I was checking up on the performance of a few fanpage campaigns today, I was hit with the revelation that Facebook Insights is a terrible web metric tool.

    What is Facebook Insights you may ask?

    Here’s the abridged FB definittion: “Facebook Insights provides Facebook Page owners and Platform application developers with metrics around their content.

    Facebook Insights Update

    Basically it is the tool that you use to measure how successful your social media endeavors on Facebook really are. The problem I have with this tool is the lack of functionality. I guess if I was the average Joe, the how I can interact with the metrics wouldn’t be such a big deal but I spend a great deal of money on Facebook advertising for community development. Maybe I’m just spoiled by Google Analytics but Facebook Insights is just tedious to me. Sure the graphs are nice and the dashboard is set up nicely for at a glance viewing but I need more. I hope that with the increasing number of internet marketing utilizing Facebook Advertising , Facebook development team will overhaul Insights. I guess for the time being this search marketer can only dream…