Too Many Marketing Tasks

A new search engine marketing tactic comes out each week, it seems. The stuff you are supposed to do gets bigger and bigger - the majority of it focusing on backlinks, and how to get the most value from them.

I realized about a year ago, that there are simply too many marketing tasks. You just cannot do them all! But the great thing is, that you can choose the ones that are most suitable for you, and for reaching your target market. Do those, and forget the rest.

I just can’t use Ryze, and LinkedIn, and FaceBook, and MySpace, and YouTube, and Blogging, and Twitter, and Podcasts, and Article Marketing, and Forum Posts, and FastPitch, and DirectMatches, and GoDaddy Connections, and Comment Posts, and get directory links every week, and swap links with my acquaintances, and who knows what else! I don’t have TIME for all of that!

It is really ok to not do it, just because everyone says you should! Find a way to consistently build backlinks, and stick to it. When you get comfortable with that, add another way. When you feel like there is no room to add another, it is ok to NOT add any more!

Just make sure you assess on a regular basis to see if what you are doing is working. If it is, then keep it up, or do more if you have time. If it is not, then either modify it, or drop it, and try something else. Often, HOW you do it makes a huge difference in success, so it is worth asking other people how they make it work before you drop it and walk away.

Good backlinks do help. You really need to consistently build them if you want traffic to your site. But it is ok to say that enough is enough, and to decide that something isn’t right for your business!

Tooltips - Just One More Thing…

Also listed as link Titles, sometimes called Tooltips, this bit of text is entered into the link code, and shows up when you wave over the link. They are favored by web developers who create applications with tools, and have caught on for giving additional information about what is behind a link.

Do search engines pay attention to them? Who knows!

But search engines index human readable and human useful text. And tooltips fall into that category. This speculation has, of course, lead some people to abuse them - so we can assume that if search engines do in fact pay attention to them, that the same rules apply as apply to other types of coding.

Consider whether using them will add value to your site for the visitor. If it won’t, then don’t bother. If it will, then consider carefully how to use them to benefit the site user.

Overall, they are pretty low on the priority list. Something to do only if you are in a highly aggressive market and have some extra time on your hands while you are waiting for customers to come to your door.

Most sites don’t, in fact, use them. Even sites where the company has the budget for it do not use them much, unless there is a reason for using them that benefits the site visitor.

When link space is limited, and you need a little more explanation, a tooltip can give it that in a way that helps your visitors navigate your site better. And that is the best reason to use them.

Filenames - Do They Matter?

Do filenames matter for Search Engine Optimization? Depends on who you ask!

The general concensus though, is that filenames are an easy factor which has a minute influence on page indexing.

They are also a frequent target for abuse, on the part of people who assume they mean more than they do! The other general agreement about them is that filename keyword stuffing is harmful to a site, causing search engines to be more likely to discredit the site and content.

The rules are simple - name it something logical, that has to do with the content of the page. Since no two filenames can be the same, you’ll generally wind up with some good variety through a site, and that is good.

If you have focused on logical naming first, then the rest of the rules are not going to be as needed. I’ll state them anyway, lest anyone misunderstand what “logical” means.

1. Keep it short. Two or three words is ideal. More than 4 is spam unless it is auto-generated (blog software and CMS software auto generates filenames.
2. Use Keywords naturally - no keyword stuffing.
3. Make the name human understandable as far as possible. It is the considerate thing to do.
4. Use hyphens to separate  words. I can’t verify it, but it is supposed to matter to Google.

When you are building a site in a Content Management System or Blog system, you won’t have as much control over the filename. The degree of control you do have depends on the particular system. Most have some kind of way to at least influence the filenames.

The rules for image files are the same - keep them short and logical, and do not think they are a way to manipulate search engines. If your images have nothing but keywords for filenames, they may be discounted. Name them with a name that reminds you of what the image is about, and the keywords typically come naturally if your site is well focused topically.

The bottom line with filenames is that they are something that you do because it is easy. It is no harder to give a page a good name as it is to give it a bad one. Even if the influence is very minute, you might as well name them with something that contains a keyword when it is logical and natural to do so. By the same token, there is no point in fussing over them or stuffing them with keywords - the potential for good is very small, while the potential for discrediting your site is actually fairly high.

Site Structure - The Hidden SEO Strategy

Site structure is an important, and often overlooked aspect of Search Engine Optimization. We are gaining more and more clients who come to us right after having their website rebuilt, who are dissatisfied with the performance of the site. Working on those sites, after someone has built them without taking SEO into consideration, is much more difficult than optimizing a site from the ground up.

The site structure consists of the coding type (HTML, or dynamic coding), the relationship of pages to one another, the category organization, and page topical focus. These are things that are at the very heart of good site development, but which don’t get the attention they need as often as they should. This is partly because web designers often just put the site together as the business owner suggests, while the business owner (lacking experience) has no idea the kind of difference good structure can make to either people, or search engines.

A good site structure will allow easy optimization of key facets of the site. It will lead logically from one area of the site to another, and each page will have a purpose that is distinctive and focused. Categories will be logically defined, with room for easy growth if that is a long term factor.

When we come into the game late, we find that many of the structural elements in an existing site limit the degree to which it can be optimized. Short of rebuilding the site, the site owner is left with a site which will never perform as well as it would have if it had been done right to begin with.

The key point here is, that two sites may look identical, but just because of the type of coding and structure they used, one may be well optimized, and another not. Many designers feel that to bring in an SEO expert early on will stifle their design creativity - this is an utter myth. SEO experts who feel that design must take second place to optimization have also got it wrong, as much as designers who feel that design must always take precident.

When it is done right, good optimization is possible with almost any site appearance. It is just a matter of achieving the appearance in SEO friendly ways. When SEO is a factor throughout the process, the results are more cost effective both in the short term (it costs less to build a site with good SEO in mind than it does to build a site, then optimize later), and in the long term (because it can be optimized more completely, money is saved on marketing, permanently).

Good site structure follows the “people first” rule. Optimizing well for search engines allows people to find what they want in the site in a more intuitive manner also, which increases conversions within the site. A double bonus - after all, if you get more traffic, you also want to get more buyers from that traffic. When it is done right, there is never a question of SEO harming the site use. In fact, it enhances it.

Considering issues of easy optimization from the first design concept helps to maximize revenue potentials for the long term, while also decreasing the cost of getting the site off the ground. Win-win for the business owner.

Keyword Stuffing is Alive and Well in Webdom

Probably the oldest, and longest condemned black hat tactic, keyword stuffing should have died out long ago. But for every expert that condemns it, there are dozens of overeager, inexperienced writer who fancy themselves experts without exercising common sense!

They produce stupidly senseless writing that gets very little benefit, and which people cannot stand to read. It has no value to anyone. Sometimes Yahoo or MSN will temporarily boost the traffic for such a page, but Google drops it almost immediately. The temporary boost from the smaller search engines is not nearly enough to make up for what is lost from Google.

Keyword stuffing consists of illogical, repetitive use of keywords, in a way that does not make sense to human readers. Every thinking person recognizes it when they see it, whether they know the official name for it or not.

Recently I was asked to review a website. The site owner had hired an “SEO expert” to optimize her site. She paid quite a bit for it, and had an ongoing contract for additional work. In the middle of it, she realized that things were not going as she had hoped (she was, in fact, losing traffic), and she dropped the contract. I looked at her site to see what the problem was.

She sold a product locally, and wished to encourage local site traffic. The “expert” had gone through the home page, and had put keyword strings of locations, combined with the word “delivery” in the title tag, keyword tag, description tag, above the header, below the header, below the product images, and a LONG keyword string below that, an additional short one below that, and again at the very bottom of the page - oh, and once more in the sidebar. Other pages of the site were no better, they contained nothing more than strings of keywords instead of content!

The next plan that the “expert” was going to implement was to create individual pages, within individual folders, for the various regional locations - each page, again, to be stuffed with keyword strings but no usable content!

People had no reason to stay on the site, and search engines had no way of knowing what the real product was since there was so much emphasis on location, and virtually no useful content.

Before we could even begin, we had to strip out all the stuff that was harming the site, and then we had to insert actual content - descriptions of the product, catchy phrases about how it makes the customer feel, and thoughtful ideas for using it creatively. Each of those had logical keywords scattered through them, in a very readable way.

It still amazes me that anyone calling themselves an expert could think that keyword stuffing was a good idea! They KNOW that search engine companies penalize for it. They KNOW that it looks stupid, and makes a business look stupid. It boggles my mind that someone could NOT know that it is a harmful tactic, especially if they call themselves an expert and sell SEO services! It makes me wonder what they are basing their claim of experience on, and just what sources they are relying on for training!

Sadly, keyword stuffing is alive and well. But it isn’t smart, and never will be. Just remember - if the writing looks stupid - it is!

Good Formatting and SEO

“Bold the important keywords!”, or “Use H1 tags for the important things!” they say. And they are right… but as with all things SEO, there are guidelines to do it right!

It does not mean to bold every instance of your keywords within an article! It does not mean to stuff keywords into H1 tags or overdo!

What it means, is to naturally use Heading tags for the important phrases through your page. Use keywords naturally within those tags.

Bold important thoughts - this does not mean keywords, it means the bits throughout the page that are the most important concepts. Typically, those will naturally contain some keywords of value, if the piece is written well.

Bolding and using heading tags (whether they are h1, h2, etc), indicate that the text inside those areas is more important. So in order to use them right, you should make sure that the information in them really IS more important, to the READER. Do that, and search engine optimization naturally follows.

Keep it natural, and remember the first rule of SEO - write for people first. Format for people first, as well. Use logical layouts, use bolding, colors, lists, indents, or heading tags to guide the reader through the page in a logical and easily understandable way. Then go back over the things you are drawing attention to, and see whether they contain natural keyword usage.

Formatting is a useful tool in helping search engines recognize the key concepts on a page, but like all SEO tactics, will hurt more than help if you abuse it. 

To Anchor, or Not to Anchor

Much is made of the power of anchor text, to the point that people use it without considering whether they SHOULD use it. Anchor text is not, in fact, the answer to every link.

The drawback to anchor text is that the link is hidden. Search engines don’t mind that, they LIKE anchor text because it tells them what the link is about. But there are times when, because it is hidden, the link may be lost.

• Some article databases do not let you embed hyperlinks. In that case, you MUST use a bare URL, beside the name of the link or the description of it.
• Sometimes, even when the hyperlink CAN be embedded, you’ll want to leave it bare. Because if the article is copied and pasted, either into a document where the hyperlink is lost, or into another article database where the hyperlink is not allowed, you want that URL to go along for the ride, no matter where the text goes.
• If the item has a high likelihood of being printed, you’ll want to leave the URL bare as well.

When you can place a link within good anchor text, it is desirable to do so. But you must think about the end uses, and your goals, before you assume that anchor text is always the right choice.

For those times when it is wiser not to use anchor text, put a good description or name right beside the URL. It reputedly does not have quite the same power, but it will help enough to be worth the effort.

On Page Text Link Advantages

The easiest links to control, are those on your own site, but many people overlook the ways in which these links can help to more clearly define what your site is about.

Remember the rules - never try to manipulate search engine results, and always write for people first.

Your site has two classes of links, both of which can affect your site indexing:

• Navigation Links - The links in your standard navigation. You do have a standard navigation area, don’t you? These links state the official reason for being, for each page behind each link. They should serve to tell people (and hence, search engines), exactly what they will find if they click on the link. Use of text links, instead of image links for primary navigation gives you a bit more SEO power, according to most sources.
• Context Links - Links within your content, which refer people to a specific place within another page, instead of the visitor having to go searching in the navigation for the thing you just referred to. Some people overdo these - just keep in mind that if you are creating them to make the site more convenient for your site visitors, they are good. If they don’t help the visitor, don’t bother.

Anchor Text (the text that you put the hyperlink into) is very important to both of these kinds of links.

Keyword stuffing (inappropriate use of keywords in the anchor text) is also a foolish thing to do with either of these kinds of links.

Your navigation links should be ACCURATELY, and INTUITIVELY named. Name them with the words that are most logical. Keep them short and concise, and make sure they sound fairly natural. They are for people to use, remember, and who cares if you get a lot of traffic from a few search engines if the people who come in look at your navigation, assume you are stupid because it sounds so silly, and leave! Keep it natural - that is your best key in knowing you are not overdoing on navigation keyword usage.

Use context links to help your visitors more easily navigate your site. Put the links to the pages within the words that reference the page - avoid use of the words “click here”, or “press here” to put your links in. Keep it natural - again, this is your best guide to know if you did it right. If the page mention and link appear a considerate gesture, you did it right. If it is overused, linked more than once on a single page of content, or if you mention too many other pages within a single page, then you’ll drive off visitors, and risk having your site lowered in value for poor content.

Accurate naming of navigation links, and occasional use of context links can help your site to be more accurately indexed by search engines. And that is the real goal.

Going Backward to Move Forward

Recently we rebuilt a website for a client. Within two weeks of the rebuild, two things happened:

1. The traffic to her site dropped by about half.
2. Her site conversions quadrupled.

Those two statistics might seem contradictory, but they actually are not. She was getting less traffic, but it was higher quality traffic.

Previously, her traffic had contained many “near miss” searches. Keywords that were in her site, but which were not targeted to her clients. Revision of the site pulled in more relevant searches.

Traffic dropped due to two causes:

1. Her page URLs changed. This resulted in a temporary drop, until the new pages indexed. We did not redirect, because of the cost involved due to the change in site structure.
2. The irrelevant searches dropped out from the stats, almost completely. Previously, 80% of the searches had been irrelevant. After the change less than 5% of the searches were irrelevant, resulting in an overall increase in quality traffic.

If you have SEO done to your site, and your traffic drops, you may feel a sense of panic, wondering why all that work resulted in a drop. But before you feel like your time or money was wasted, look at the search terms, and see whether the drop was due to losing irrelevant traffic. That traffic wasn’t doing you any good anyway.

Typically, when a site is badly optimized, you will have a high quantity of irrelevant traffic. And generally when your site is re-indexed, you will LOSE the irrelevant traffic BEFORE you gain much in the way of increased relevant traffic. So watch it for two months, and see whether the initial drop is followed by slow growth trends in the good traffic. If, after two months, the stats show a continuing decline, then the optimization was not done right, especially if combined with an increase in irrelevant search terms, or an increase in partial search terms (only one or two words that are out of context). Bad results often happen from “hit and run” SEO – someone who stuffs your page full of meaningless keyword strings but fails to incorporate high quality marketing text into the site.

Watch the trends, and don’t be alarmed by a temporary drop – instead, look for the reasons why it is occurring. If it occurred for the right reasons, you should see the traffic pick back up so that you not only regain what you lost, but you continue to gain ground long term.

ADA Accessibility and Good SEO

As a webmaster, I find that I can really capitalize on ADA Accessibility. Many organizations which are required to be ADA compliant don’t even know they are supposed to. So when I sit down in negotiations when them, and can inform them that their site needs this, and why, they understand immediately that I know things, and can help them with things that they did not think about.

It is even more impressive to them when I explain that by doing their SEO right, we kill two birds with one stone - we meet two needs, without increasing costs.  And there, is one of my “trade secrets” for getting contracts of a certain type.

If you understand what makes good SEO, and what makes a page ADA compliant, it becomes immediately clear that the two needs are almost completely identical. When you follow the rule of putting people first, good optimization makes a page almost 100% ADA compliant - the exception is when you have audio or video as part of your site, where you do have to provide alternate forms of those items (generally a transcript is considered acceptable), or when you have scripts on the page that require an alternate display (usually that alternate display also helps with SEO).

Here are the basics of ADA compliance for MicroWebmasters:

1. Most obviously, use alt tags on any images that are important to the overall message of the site. Make them human understandable and friendly, NEVER use them for keyword stuffing!
2. Use text links whenever possible for primary navigation. When you must use image links, make sure you use alt-tags in the images which clearly state what the link is.
3. Avoid excessive use of Javascript, Flash, Ajax, and other scripts which would interfere with interpretation of the page by a screen reader. If you do use those items, provide an alternate way of achieving the function.
4. Make sure contact email is machine readable, or machine executable. That doesn’t mean you have to have a bare email address on your site, it means avoiding encoding of email addresses that makes them non-machine readable, or providing a good form that can be used by someone using text reader software.
5. Give your page good contrast between text and backgrounds. This probably should be listed first, but it is actually less of an accessibility issue than it is a good design issue. Dark on light is easier to read than light on dark. Avoid low contrast, “vibrating” colors, or busy backgrounds behind text.
6. Keep your text sizes readable. Too small is a strain for many people. Generally a size 10 font (14px) is about as small as you want to go. Very small text size is a strain for more than just the legally blind, it is a hardship for about half the population!
7. Use common methods to keep the page readable in unexpected situations. Make sure it is readable if the stylesheet does not load. Make sure that it is readable if background images do not load. Include other basic failsafes to ensure that it is usable if something doesn’t work the way you think it should.
8. Provide an alternate for any audio or video that are an integral part of the site. A text transcript is acceptable.

The basics of ADA accessibility are pretty simple, and are naturally present when a site has been intelligently designed and optimized. Accessibility, like SEO, comes back to text. If the site is understandable with text only, then it will help with search engines, and people with visual or auditory limitations.

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