How-to Guide: 5 Ways to Use Google Webmaster Tools to Maximize Your SEO Campaign

How-to Guide: 5 Ways to Use Google Webmaster Tools to Maximize Your SEO Campaign

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Google Webmaster Tools is a goldmine for marketing and content departments, generating an array of data that will help you craft an intelligent SEO campaign. Even if you’re already using Google Analytics, you need Webmaster Tools. In fact, I check both every day for my websites.

Webmaster Tools can give you information such as keyword ranking data, traffic trends based on content, keyword insights, and even Google Authorship statistics. The data is easy to download, so you can manipulate it to analyze trends and find opportunities.

 

1.    Search Queries

2.    Traffic Patterns

3.    Keyword Insights

4.    Authorship Statistics

5.    Site Speed Metrics

Analytics looks at […]

An Integrated Marketing Blueprint to Grow Sales & ROI in 2014

An Integrated Marketing Blueprint to Grow Sales & ROI in 2014

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For many brands, SEO, social media, email marketing, conversion, content marketing, mobile, and website design and development have been approached as independent practices for many years.

While some have always approached the digital space with a marketing perspective – applying marketing fundamentals to drive strategy, implementation, and measurement – many have handed off the strategic implementation of each channel to its perspective implementer.

As the lines blur between website user experience, publishing content, sharing on social media, and optimization for search and visibility across devices, marketers are being forced to go back to their roots. They must create, manage and own the complex multi-channel, integrated strategy.

SEO (search engine optimization) is of no value if what is being optimized doesn’t serve the customer in their quest for answers, solutions, and deals.

Because search engines care more about delivering the best result to those searching, brands shift their focus toward providing quality and relevant answers. Marketers must shift their thinking from keywords to context when developing pages, posts, updates, and conversations that put the brand in the path of customers.[…]

SEO Basics: 8 Essentials When Optimizing Your Site

SEO Basics: 8 Essentials When Optimizing Your Site

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Basic search engine optimization (SEO) is fundamental. And essential. SEO will help you position your website properly to be found at the most critical points in the buying process or when people need your site.

What are search engines looking for? How can you build your website in a way that will please both your visitors/customers, as well as Google, Bing, and other search engines? Most importantly, how can SEO help your web presence become more profitable?

“Skipping the basics and spending all your time and money on social and ‘fancy stuff’ is the same as skipping brushing your teeth and showering, but buying white strips and wearing expensive cologne,” Shelby said.

Although the Introduction to SEO session was intended for industry newcomers, Shelby’s tips offer important reminders for even experienced SEO professionals who have been optimizing sites for years.

What is SEO, Exactly?

An SEO Beginner Guide: What is Call Tracking and Why Should I Care?

An SEO Beginner Guide: What is Call Tracking and Why Should I Care?

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An SEO Beginner Guide: What is Call Tracking and Why Should I Care? Most businesses and marketers measure success based upon a series of digital analytics, such as organic visits, page views and obviously, goal conversions.

Until recently, it has been almost impossible to know where your telephone inquires have come from. And that’s been a big headache for anyone wanting to know how effective their marketing has been.

The latest call tracking software can tell you which of your marketing efforts are successfully generating calls, and which are failing. Call tracking is also a great companion for your SEO, so let’s take a look at the benefits.

How do you track your inbound calls?

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Top 20 Local Search Ranking Factors: An Illustrated Guide

Top 20 Local Search Ranking Factors: An Illustrated Guide

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Local Search Ranking Factors 2013 identified 83 foundational ranking factors. This guide takes the top 20 most important factors and offers a succinct, illustrated example of each.

By reading this guide, you will understand both the lingo and the concept of each local search ranking factor. Use this information and you will be on the road to promoting local businesses on the web from a firm and educated foundation. Sound good? Start reading!

First published in 2008 by David Mihm , the Local Search Ranking Factors survey of Local SEOs around the globe has become a high point in the year in local search. If you eagerly await this yearly report and comb through it for new insight, then the information in […]

The Chicken & The Egg

The Chicken & The Egg problem

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I used to charge for building a website by the page, and invariably I would have the odd customer ask me to only build 1,2 or 3 pages. They would say something like: “I only want to invest in a few pages for now, and when I see some traffic (i.e. increase in sales) then I will be prepared to invest more to build out the rest of my website.”

Well there is a big flaw in that thinking. In order to draw the right traffic (visitors & prospects) to a website, the website must have a bunch of relevant content, which usually equates to much more than a few pages! So hence the chicken and egg conundrum – do you wait for traffic to build out your website, or build out your website and hope the traffic will come?

The art of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is moving away from tricking Google (and Bing, Yahoo) into finding your site and it is becoming more about Content Marketing. This means that for a website to have a chance to be found it must have both relevant content (to the searcher) and a large amount of  content which both answers the questions the searcher has in mind and informs and directs them to take the next step.

Now, when building a website, I build a minimum of 6 pages and usually include and encourage a blog section – where I ask the customer to publish a fresh new article, at minimum – monthly. The search engines love websites that continually update and publish fresh new content and the more content you have on your website, the more traffic you will attract.

 

Why Content is the Beating Heart of Search - Search Engine Journal

Why Content is the Beating Heart of Search – Search Engine Journal

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Content has been around since the start of search marketing. Even back in the days when SEO was based around spamming keywords and directories, content was always there, being churned and spun. The difference between now and then is that search marketing is no longer about the quantity of content that you can get onto the web to promote your keywords and anchor text, but the quality of your content and making sure that it positively represents your brand. Did you know that 27,000,000 pieces of content are shared every day?

Before you start writing content, it is crucial to make sure that you are not writing it just for the sake of placing keywords and getting links, but to offer new information or get them involved in your campaign and engaging with your brand.

There is almost no scenario now in the world of SEO where content is not at the forefront of rankings, whether it be for building natural links or placing keywords on onsite blog posts. It most certainly should not be ignored […]

Link Building 101: Local Link Building

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Local link building is a commonly untapped resource, which can lead to quick yet quality links.

It doesn’t take thousands of backlinks to rank. The goal in link building should be sustainable activity that will continue to result in good links that make sense, without creating abnormal patterns or high link velocity.

If a site has any potentially local customers, it’s definitely worth the time to invest in a little local link building. Especially when you consider the effect of localization in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Link building is a project, often long and lengthy in nature. Good link building campaigns employ diverse strategies to build backlinks over the course of months, […]