Archive for the ‘Organic Search’Category

Back at Work – Realization of Search Saturation

After the long break from work and some much needed time with my family, I’m back in the office (with a new coffee pot, thanks to my father and mother-in-law) and I’m shifting gears and starting to look deeper and harder into organic search. That crazy thing. I’m not cutting off all ties with paid search, it just is taking a back seat for a while… we’ll see.

To start the year off right, I thought it best to really dive into some of my employer’s more important search terms. Those terms you might be asking?… generic. Highly searched, highly competitive, yet highly profitable. Why do you think you see so many ads for insurance, or online schools, or investing? Those are the people who see the biggest bang for their buck for paying the most for your click. So why is this a problem.

Just as these vertical’s paid search and display campaigns might be gigantic, the affiliate marketers and content creators backing them up are just as big. Are you looking for car insurance or an online degree? Don’t type in ‘car insurance’ or ‘online degree’ in your search browser unless you want a site that will sell your information to the highest paying provider. It’s a system that works, but quite honestly, from a 50 thousand foot level, a lot of discredit goes to those searchers like you and me out there. Are we getting the service that best matches what we want? Probably.. damn, but maybe not. I guess that depends on if you know how to search for the product or service you’re looking for.

So what does this mean for me and my ongoing endeavor for search engine optimization?

Some friends and partners of mine over at KEO Marketing in Tempe, AZ have really pushed an interesting aspect of SEO on to me. “How do we get through all of the mumbo jumbo of content pushers, and affiliate aggregators in our space?” Focus your efforts along side theirs. Better yet, expand our efforts by leaps and bounds.

These affiliate websites have tons and tons of other websites networked together performing single, high output, actions at a time… and with those actions, money goes right to them. But their network of sites do all the heavy lifting.

If, as a business, we can focus our efforts as expansively as they can, shouldn’t we be able to start edging back into the 2nd or 1st pages of some long tailed keyword search results? People are typing huge search terms in these days… because they see that crap! Those are the searchers we want to see come to our site directly.

So what’s the process in doing this? You should know by now… most likely, you’re into search (why else would you even consider reading this far down into my post?).

Peace

05

01 2010

Google Fade and User Experience = Wait For It!

While searching today, I noticed an odd occurrence on Google’s homepage. No, not your personal iGoogle page,  just the regular web search starting page that not too long ago, epitomized the simplicity and unclutteredness Google is known for. In all reality, it still is one of my most favorite homepages of all time. So whats new?

You know those “Find the Difference” games? Try this on!

goog2

Versus…

goog1

(You can click on the screen shots for a better look.)

So do you see the difference?

If you haven’t noticed it by now, the Google search homepage is now waiting to add your account info, links to other features, and even the About Us or Advertising links, until you’ve moused over the site, or at least have taken some kind of further action. Basically, you’re given the logo, a text box, and the phrase, “Press Enter to Search.” Interesting huh? Once you have moused into the page, all of the regular links come back. So what’s the deal?

<html onmousemove=”google&&google.fade&&google.fade()”>

So after some research.. I found this line to be a little intriguing. As a side note, if you haven’t taken the time to look through Google’s HTML and Javascript, you should. Any ways, after taking a look at this as well as thumbing through bits and pieces of adjoining Javascript, I started wondering what this Google Fade thing was… it this a stepping stone for something bigger? A test of some sort? Maybe it is purely an aesthetic thing, I don’t know.But it is kinda fun to guess!

My theory:

So there are a few parts to my theory, but the major junk of it revolves around Google Suggest. If you don’t know what Google Suggest is, go to Google, and start typing a search phrase. See those suggestions that Google thinks you’re looking for? That is Google Suggest.

Alright, that is all fine and good, but how does this relate to Google Fade? (Wow, if Google’s mission statement was to slap their name on products and services, they’ve definately succeeded) Take a look at the this entry over on the Google Blog. Some of the main topics Jonathan Effrat, David Kadouch and Matt Kulick talk about relate the the ease, speed, and personalization Google Suggest gives a user. What better way to emphasize this then to take all other forms of navigation out! More on this in a minute.

In addition they also touch on some really interesting features that are becoming more and more evident. If you’ll notice…

goog5… when I started searching for Yelp, Suggest popped up more then highly qualified suggestions, but more importantly, stuck an actual result in there! I’m not kidding… If you type in yelp, and down arrow to the actual Yelp link, it will take you to the home page. Sorta a glimpse of ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ in action I suppose.

Another interesting issue Effrat, Kadouch and Kulick speak towards in the inclusion of Paid Listing in the suggestions themselves! Whoa, I know! Go to their post and read it yourself. They have a screen shot. Think about that for a minute. What if, while you were typing your search query, the company you were looking for pops up automatically and you’re saved the trouble of being taken to those pesky search engine results pages? Annoying! (not really)

In addition to these ideas, Google Labs also reveal some interesting perspective. If you’re interested, take a look at the experiments and activities you can do in the Labs. Keyboard shortcuts… Accessibility. They’re continuing to look into and research even better ways people can search online, as well as on mobile devices.

So as Google Fade in all reality could be just a beautiful aesthetic the search engine wants to incorporate to make your searching experience calmer, understand that there are some key landmarks taking place. You know how Hulu.com MAKES you watch a commercial before you can watch your video? What if Google starts showing you pages of paid material before you can start resuming your search? Interesting to say the least!

Peace

30

10 2009

Twitter Fuels Fire to Local Search

localbanner

My first real job out of college was at a company devoted towards leveraging the local search market. Marchex, BlitzLocal, and many other companies out there today see local as the blossoming form of main stream search. Essentially, they are banking on the fact that what people actually search for online will change to a more centralized and local base. Is this the case, and should we too be seizing this opportunity? Hell yeah! Well at least to some degree.

Today, applications and websites such as Google Maps and Yelp have helped pave a new local channel for people to funnel through in order to reach their destination. Local restaurants, service companies, and tech savvy independent business owners have harnessed this evolving channel in hopes of capitalizing on the trend that is local. Bring Twitter into the discussion and this shift is hugely magnified

If you browse through the millions and millions of Twitter users out there, you might just notice something. There are a lot of businesses, corporate accounts, as well as things which I would like to call community broadcast accounts. One example of a community broadcast account I personally follow is @CenPhoTV (Central Phoenix). So what do I mean by local broadcast account? With the ease and simplicity that Twitter represents, many people today are creating their own news feeds much like how a year or two ago,  RSS and other numerous technologies were helping people decide what is and what is not read-worthy. With Twitter, what was once a personal news feed for Joe who works in accounting, is now a public news feed for many other people who are interested in the same thing Joe is interested in. Even more, communication and chat can be added to the picture. Do you want to know what is happening downtown? What local restaurants are having specials tonight? Do a Twitter search and see if you can’t navigate your way through the TRAP (Twitter Crap.. I should brand the term – Look for a blog post later!) out there, to something that is meaningful AND LOCAL to you! Maybe a wine bar is hosting a tasting for $20 tonight. Entertainment on a Saturday? Sure why not. Plus… it’s local.

So why does this matter?

localsandwich - taken from Maps.Google.com

Let’s just say a map represents a grid. Like an X/Y grid. Oh.. this is an easy comparison. Google Maps has come a long long way in terms of shoving data into the actual maps. Restaurant locations, addresses, barber shop phone numbers (I don’t use a barber.. I use a very sophisticated beautician) and everything else you can think of is displayed on these maps. But as more and more information gets published, the more the clutter we need to sift through.

Real time statuses, reviews, and specials offers a totally different thing…

localtwitter - taken from Twitter: Search [phoenix sandwich]

Put these two things together, and you have the capability of creating some of the most complex XYZ three-dimensional models out there. It’s like walking down the street and hearing every single person’s word of mouth blurb. … they should make an application that lists the most referenced restaurants on Twitter in a given city. Talk about word of mouth!

Alright, so while this might not be the best example, it does show a lot of what I’m talking about.

Today’s searching community is smart and can pretty much put two and two together. I know real time Twitter updates on Google Maps is just about here (maybe it’s already here and just not mainstream.. or maybe I’m totally out of the loop. I dunno), but we don’t need an application to do that kinda stuff for us! (Then again, we don’t need an application to decide on where we’re going to eat dinner tonight).

Maximizing Twitter, Maps, Yelp, Review Sites, Facebook, and everything else out there, searchers and social media users today are living proof as to why Local is now here more then ever. You know who you’re looking for. Do they blog?

Peace!

10

09 2009

The State of SEO

SEOTITLE - Scrooge/Cratchit image taken from 1st-image-gallery.com

See the original post on RyanAndElliott.com!

Before I had decided to title this post, ‘The State of SEO,’ I had originally titled it ‘Is SEO Dying?’ Cool huh? Actually, I had written a 800 word post describing why I thought SEO was on the verge of collapse within the industry and within online marketing in general. I scratched that idea out of fear of backlash from my fellow SEO die-hards out there. Maybe someday I’ll post it (after the fact of course, and then look like a complete idiot).

Instead, ‘The State of SEO’ has become my first entry on RyanAndElliott.com. As I’ve been fidgeting around with my own blog, as well as with work at my actual job, Elliott finally pushed me to create something, so here it is.

What is the State of SEO as we know it?

In my most honest and most deepest opinion, SEO is changing dramatically. There was a time when you could say that for any given company or any ‘New Media’ company out there, SEO was a valid career path. Is this the case now? Maybe, but I don’t think it should be….

Read the rest of this entry at RyanAndElliott.com

27

08 2009

YouTube XL – Search On Couch

So last night I was chilling at home with Andrea, and I wanted to play some music on the good ole’ Nintendo Wii. So what do I do? Pump up Wii Internet Channel Powered by Opera, check out YouTube… but whats this? YouTube XL…

This is the first thing I see as soon as I go to www.YouTube.com. (I had to make it big to fit in with the theme of the huge XL in the logo) Although this was the first time I noticed this new feature for YouTube access, come to find out, its been out since June 2nd. You can see how up to speed I am.

Pleasantly surprised that I’d be able to see HD videos, in their full glory with little effort on my part, I chuckled with excitement and glee. Although some of the videos I was looking for were a bit glitchy at times, others seemed to work perfectly fine. Not quite sure the dilemma there, but rather irritating nonetheless. To take a quick look at my YouTubing experience last night, check out these gems…

Rick Ross’ Maybach Music 2 feat. Kanye West, T-Pain, and Lil Wayne is brilliant. I know its main stream, but the instrumental is so complex and ’stadium status’ and for some reason, reminds me of video game music from 1998. Hot!

Target Women is a great series of videos produced by CurrentTV starring Sarah Haskins. The ideas typically take a selected topic every week… ie Wedding Shows, Chocolate, Cleaning, or anything else often stereotypically associated with women, and brings the humor out of their respected advertising campaigns.

And then we had to watch HGTV’s $250,000 Challenge.

Any ways, after watching a few videos on YouTube XL, I’ve come to realize that… As our modality of accessing the internet continues to evolve and change, so do our websites. Thanks primarily to the iPhone, many highly trafficked web pages now have Mobile versions, or less CSS’d and imaged versions, compared to their original state. Means faster and easier readability on your mobile phone of preference. XL on the other hand caters to those of us with internet connections to our large screen televisions, via anything from the Wii, or anything else that allows you to access the internet from your couch. “I’ve been at work all day.. why would I sit behind a computer at home to watch YouTube videos?” Sheesh.

While YouTube isn’t really a search tool (yeah I know it is), it does give a good representation for how search is developing. With statistics saying things like, ‘more and more people search from the cellphones these days then from their computer,’ there is a great disservice going on here between what is being said, and what is actually going on. I don’t know for a fact that more and more people are not searching online these days.. I do think that more and more people are search from their phones, though… or their TVs in my personal case. Search hasn’t shifted, it has just become more broad. Now stemming from my experience in SEM, maybe we should do a better job compensating for these new audiences rather then trying to fit them in with the rest of the crowd. They are converting on something totally different. Right? Often times… on nothing!

But as we begin to watch YouTube videos in our cereal bowls and from the backs of our hands, I think companies are really starting to realize they are having more and more reasons to venture into online advertising and publicity. ‘Hey.. I sell good cereal.. I’d like to be in your cereal bowl browser/app!’  Coming Q3  ‘10.

Peace

15

06 2009

Google Maps – A Content Factory that Evolves

So last week sometime, I forgot what day it was, I came across a Tweet mentioning the new features of Google Maps. Have you seen them? They are ridiculous. Check out my old office when I worked in Seattle at Marchex


View Larger Map

Any ways, if you haven’t noticed, you’re now able to click on various parts of the street view map to zoom in or travel to the specific location of which you clicked. Gone are the days of clicking through streets to find the restaurant you want to go to. Gone are the days of thinking.. ‘Wow, somehow, I’m here when I need to be all the way down there.. it’s too much work to go to map view again just to go to the right location. I’m going to just keep clicking until I get there.’ – Okay so that might just be me, but you get my point. Take a minute to go to maps.google.com and play around in street view. It’s kinda fun!

But whats the point? Why make a good thing better?

So Google Maps isn’t Social Media. It isn’t SEO, or even PPC, but it is content… and you better believe you’ll be finding all three of those things embedded into it sooner or later if not already. Take for example. Google Business Listings. Google was smart enough to tell people.. ‘Hey… we’ve got this application out there that is way better then other maps on the internet, that we’d like to populate with GOOD information.. such as your business! Do you want to be on GOOGLE MAPS?’

‘Sure?’ says Barry Wells of Barry Wells Chevrolet. (Disclaimer: I don’t think there is a Barry Wells Chevrolet.. if there is, you should rejoice in my free publicity!)

Why wouldn’t local businesses want to show up on the map most Googlers, let alone people, use today. – Add features such as kick ass zoom, position warping, and simulated earthquake damage.. this is not available yet, and you’ve got a content factory that people are just going to want to keep pouring their heart and soul into. It’s the Google business model. (If you don’t know the Google business model…. Create Content Theme Parks (Search Engines) -> Slowly Incorporate Advertising -> Make Gazillions… its sort of similar to this video:

Alright so those mind trick videos are kinda dumb; your attention is not on the moving bear, but nonetheless, the bear was there… you can never go back and tell me otherwise. Although the bear is irrelevant to the basketball players, it does ad value to the video. Essentially.. Google has perfected this illusion, so much that it’s not really an illusion anymore. PEOPLE LOVE BEARS!

As Google Maps continues to pull more and more people, businesses, and cool tools/applications that make map navigation easier, why not optimize for this local audience. Make the effort to create the Local Business Listing, or submit some photos for a particular address, or just write a review or two. You know SEO, you know that content is key. Join the local conversation, and you might be surprised at who sees you. But although you might not be a local business owner, you can at at least wave to people when they drive by.

Peace

09

06 2009

Fetchback Retargeting

Monday afternoon, and once again I found myself working. Nothing new, but the day seems to be going by quickly. That being said, I just thought I’d talk a little bit today on my experiences with Fetchback and the power that is ‘Retargeting’!

At work, I deal with a plethora of different search agencies, ad agencies, marketing companies, etc. etc. And to tell you the truth, after a while, hearing sales pitch after sales pitch of why we need a certain thing gets kind of old. Thank goodness I have a little bit of a system. An in all reality, you learn a little bit with time how to just say no. Fetchback, on the other hand, is one of my favorites. (We’re already working with them, so maybe they don’t count)

Fetchback is a retargeting company that works with you, a client, in creating holistic marketing campaigns dedicated towards a group of individuals that sometimes rarely gets noticed. “Has beens” Well not really has beens, but people who’ve come and gone from your site, just like that. What retargeting does, however, is it allows targeted display ads to populate those individuals search and online activity experiences, not only increasing branding, but pushing ads at reasonably good CPCs/CPMs, etc, since the targeting is so superb. Does that make sense? In essence, we’re targeting a group of ads to people who thought “Hmm… that seems interesting, maybe I’ll come back and look at them later.” Cool right?

Well since working with Fetchback, I’ve seen great numbers, and thats why I’m happy to share this kind of info with you! Actually, you can check me out on their site… www.Fetchback.com/Testimonials.html Just look for my name.

Also they have a YouTube channel.

Just some interesting video… I dunno… Thanks Fetchback!

Peace

P.S. One thing… their site could do with some SEO optimization for sure. Just my little sidenote, in case they are listening.

11

05 2009

White Lies

I’m not sure if it was last week or last weekend, but I stumbled on White Lies by Paul Van Dyk, featuring Jessica Sutta. Now I know I’ve been totally geeking out about weird music lately, but I can’t get this song outta my head. It might be the fact that Sutta looks totally awesome in the video, and “Hello?” Why don’t the Pussycat Dolls let her sing once in a while… she’s not that bad. Oh well.

Any ways, as Q2 starts, and I’m doing the stuff that I thought I hated back in January, I’m beginning to feel less and less threatened by it. I mean come on, who would have guessed I would be lead budgeting, media buying, and campaign managing when I started back in October? Not I. Oh, had my performance review today as well.. went pretty well I suppose, no surprises, and apparently I’m doing a good job. I’m happy. But back to the topic. In January, I would have cried if I knew I was going to be doing this same stuff.. but I’ve stuck through, and truthfully, I feel more invigorated now then depressed. Yeah they’re looking for an Online Marketing Director, but I can honestly say I’ve kept the boat afloat for the last 4 months, and have done some good here and there as well. Now what do I do though? On a side note, I just finished a training session with ion Interactive’s LiveBall… an awesome landing page creation system. I can’t wait to get started.

Now that Elliott is gone, I find myself sorta manning the social media platforms… ie. Twitter, Facebook, etc. Is this what I’m used to? No. Would I like this job? Maybe. Although I’ve been told I should apply, I sometimes feel that maybe evolving the position into a juxtaposition of what I’m already doing now and what Elliott was doing would be nice. I think so. I mean what is social all about? One person? I don’t think so. One of my main SEO goals for Q2 is to create a campus-wide SEO training system for all content creators… yes, everyone. So why wouldn’t I be able to give that kind of guidance elsewhere in say, social media? Before he left, Elliott sold some assets, and started other departments in their own social endeavors. I think personally this was the best decision of his final days here. Give the people a voice and a platform, and they’ll naturally create a following for themselves. How they use it, and how they think they’re using it can sometimes differ, however. Maybe that is what a Social Media Strategist is most concerned with.

Well, all things aside, I think I have some thinking to do. I know I’m not going to be a Social Media Strategist, but also, I know I’m not going to be doing this kinda of SEM my whole life as well.

If you’ve got some time, check out Jessica Sutta in White Lies. It makes you wanna go dancing this weekend, or just have a good time.

Peace

08

04 2009

No Rule to Hash Tags (Sorta)

So I’ve recently been in conversation with Elliott regarding the use of hash tags (#) in Twitter posts. What are they for? What do they do? Is there a strict syntax or rule to using them? In short, and to answer pretty much all of these questions… NO. When it comes to hash tags, I don’t think any kind of rule has, or really, CAN be made. It’s all up to the way you use them.

Hash tags, or number signs, or Pound signals, or (#) can be traced primarily from IRC channels and later, Jaiku channels. (Got that bit of juice from pbwiki.com) Some in the twittersphere use hash tags for aid in Twitter search, while others, for channels or groups, and yet others use hash tags for just telling people how they feel.

Lonely Twitterer

Lonely Twitterer

So what does this mean?

While I’ve been looking at hash tags with Elliott, I’ve been wondering if there really is a syntax or optimum time to use these little buggers in your tweets. Conclusion… not really. Though groups, websites, conventions, and other social objects can dictate what they follow or what they want their users to abide by, there is still no universal rule. And because twitter is so current, I don’t really see that changing. As more and more events unravel, and more people begin to create their social profile, set rules and syntax guidelines are going to be as favorable as Facebook telling you what you are advertising for them.. for free.

During the time it took me to write this little blurb, I also stumbled upon www.HashTags.org. If you want a bare bones search engine of whats happening in real time in the twittershpere, check them out. Not only can you see trends, and hot issues, but you can also get a feel for how people are using hash tags in general through the site’s search feature. It searches the hash tags, as well as the posts, and other bits of juicy content! Give it a go! No rules!!

www.HashTags.org

www.HashTags.org

Cool huh? Yeah I know you might not be able to see it real clearly… I’m sorry. Any ways, and moving on, if there is any kind of piece of advice you should get from reading this little blog entry, it is simply… Use hash tags the way you would use H tags in HTML. Haha. You can construe that sentence however you want depending on how ethical you are at SEO. I suppose in my personal preferences… the more ethical the better. It’s content tagging in it’s most organic form (kinda)… people can choose to use/search/abide by them or not. It’s really your call.

Peace

24

02 2009

Sitting in a Google Blog Search Session at SMX

Chris Pennock – Senior Software Engineer – Speaker

So I wanted to do some live blogging while I was at SMX this year, but as you may have noticed.. notta. This session being on Google Blog Search, however, I couldn’t have found a better opportunity. That being said, Chris is now talking.

“Who uses Blogsearch”? – Somebody looking for more raw or opinionated data.

“How does Blogsearch Work”?

Blog author publishes, Google ges a Ping, Crawl the post, Index, user searches, finds it… takes about 10 minutes. Should I publish now? Sure, why not, stay tuned.

– Saved

High quality content is the most important aspect in Google Blogsearch. Actually, if you think about it, in all search. What am I talking to a bunch of 1st graders? No! I shouldn’t be telling you this. I guess it’s just the only thing I can think of writing at this point. This session is kinda hard to listen to, especially while I’m trying to live blog. Looking up at the PPT now… … I’m too far away. I think there is an image of a Google Blog Search page. Chris is talking about ‘Related Blogs’ now. Whoops now he’s talking about Meme Tracking… what is it?

MeMe Tracking: Part of the page that talks about blogs. How long somethings been going on, … tracking for about a day… …working to updo that… … one thing, similar to Google News, and it is… …no bias between niche blogs, if you have a great post, Meme could pick it up…? …can also look up by topic… …whats going on…

Man this guy is all over the place. Either that or I just am not a good live blogger. I think probably the latter. I’ll stick to Twitter.

– Saved

So yeah, I just wanted to write a new post since it’s been a good long while. Sorry the content kinda sucks. I’m wrapping up day 2 at SMX and like yesterday, I’m running on fumes. Sorta. Actually, I was able to it up Alex Chen at Google in San Francisco for lunch today. Oh My Gosh! I want to work there. Well who doesn’t? So their cafeteria is quite impressive. Couple different ‘hot bars’ with Italian, Asian, etc… sandwich bars, a couple salad bars, dessert bars, and then the view. Man the windows look right on San Francisco Bay and it’s just amazing. I’m sorry I didn’t get any pictures. Let me look at Google Image Search for a possible example….

So yeah I realize this isn’t the view of San Francisco Bay at Google, it is the slide that goes from the 3rd floor to the 2nd! Yeah I know. Apparently this person does not no how to ride a slide correctly, but as Alex mentioned, people can use lunch trays for maximum sliding efficiency. Anyways… best thing I could find in Google Image Search.

– Saved

So Chris is done talking now. Now we’re all trying to get him to open up on what Google sees or uses as an important aspect to blogs… links, comments, titles, etc. Yeah he’s not opening up too much.. “You know, just the normal stuff… tough to get into a lot of detail.” Alright.

“Is Google reader/feedburner a factor?” Answer: “We have lots of data about blogs… we’re data driven.”

“If you get flagged for spam, is there an appeal process?” Answer: “Yes, we will look at it and help”

“How much of a challenge to identity a blog versus a forum versus a website that updates frequently?” Answer: It’s a challenging problem, especially with forums. Can’t talk to much on that.

“If your site if hosting it’s own blog, is there any way to differentiate or block Blogsearch from crawling your blog versus a forum?” Answer: Is that a problem? No.. Okay… Yeah No (I added that one)

Okay I’m sure I’m not the only one writing about Google Blogsearch at the Google Blogsearch Seminar at #smxwest. I’m done, and I’m ready for some food, and sleep… and then flying back home to Phoenix tomorrow! Yay!

11

02 2009