Three Steps to Start Blogging | Samantha Collier - JDSupra

Three Steps to Start Blogging | Samantha Collier - JDSupra

JDSupra is a great resource for attorneys or those involved with search marketing and social media marketing for law firms. This particular post is a nice, basic introduction to blogging. Good place to start for most lawyers.

Specialty Directories Helpful For Searching

Everyone knows how to use a search engine now, well, almost everyone. Apparently, there's still some demand for phone books. Giant paperback books notwithstanding, most people are now pretty savvy when it comes to searching online. The problem now is that the information at our fingertips is overwhelming.

Personalized search is a new thing but is catching on with those people willing to give Google and Bing access to more of their personal information. Niche directories can be very helpful as they narrow down the possible results right from the start. These small directories (small in scope, not listings) may target a specific geographic region or they may target a particular industry or interest.

FishersFind.com is a directory type site focused on businesses and services located in the Indianapolis area, specifically the north east side of the city. Our search marketing company is located on the East side of Indy so it seemed appropriate to submit our listing as a potential resource for businesses in that area.

eDentist is a dental directory, one of many. There are also a seemingly endless number that focus on doctors, lawyers, plumbers, and so forth.

HoosierCaddy.com, though not exclusively a directory, functions as an Indiana golf course directory. Most hobbies and topics like this will have a site dedicated to it.

A couple of benefits of these type of directories is that they tend to offer more expert opinions which tends to mean better qualified search results. And they will often have a community built in that will share its expertise and opinion.

Google and Bing will probably remain the search tools of choice for most people for the near future. But these specialty directories are likely to become more and more popular as people discover them.

Business Has Changes

Ten years ago, a company spent their marketing money pushing their message across a variety of channels. TV, radio, print ads and direct sales were the solution to the perennial question "how do we get more business". Business has changed.

Consumers have changed. With the unparalleled growth of the internet people know they can find anything at anytime on their terms. What used to be direct marketing has become spam, and we have developed an uncanny ability to avoid it. DVR, MP3, RSS and dozens of other technologies allow us to pick and choose the messages we receive. The result has been nothing short of disastrous for companies that haven't evolved.

One thing that hasn’t changed is that consumers still buy. In fact, they are spending more than ever - just not the way they used to. More than half of consumers considering a purchase start their buying cycle online. What's more, over 90% of all consumers use the internet at some point before making that purchase. The good news is that your customers are still buying what you have to offer. The bad news is they are probably getting somewhere else.

The solution is Organic Search Marketing.

Organic, or natural, search engine marketing provides the highest long-term return on investment of all online marketing methods. Search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing place sites that contain the most relevant, trustworthy information at the top of the search results page, where everyone looks first. The "secret" to success in the 21st century is getting on what we call "the short list". Topping that short list means visibility, authority and reputation.

Whether it is someone looking for legal service or lawn care, a local auto repair center or a flat screen television, the internet provides the answer to their question. Moving your website to the top of Google and other major search engines will transform it into a referral based lead generation machine. Our clients know that organic search marketing is the most effective form of advertising available.

While pay-per-click, social media and traditional marketing have their place, the modern consumer prefers to avoid the busy noise and seek answers rather than advertising. When searchers ask their question, are you the answer?

Read: What Is Organic Search ?

Linkbait – Stinkbait

Catfish love stink! The stinkier the better.

Linkbait can stink as well. Is that bad? Depends who you’re fishing for.

Those of you who grew up in more pastoral settings (a.k.a. The Country) may have spent some time on a river bank or lake shore trying to catch the whiskered hogs. If so, you’ve probably seen, heard of, or used about every bait imaginable to try and get their olfactory attention. What you learned over time was that stink = deliciousness to the finicky underwater feline. (Check out this stink bait recipe.)

Stink isn’t the bait of choice for all fish, and that’s one of the keys to being an expert angler. What bait works for the fish you’re after? Link bait tactics are similar. Know your target.

Some object to the imagery, since being “hooked” may seem a bit cruel, whether you’re talking about a fish or potential customer. But let’s face it people are searching because they’re hungry. They want or need what you have. If they don’t, you’re selling the wrong thing. By hooking them, you’ve done them a favor.

Occasionally, a fisherman will inadvertently hook a fish he wasn’t intending to catch. It happens. Perhaps a nice largemouth bass decides that the big ball of dough you were reeling in suddenly reminds him of his favorite dish. There’s an off chance this fish will be worth mounting on the wall of his basement or den but most likely he’ll simply release the accidental catch or maybe the fish will wise up on his way in and spit the bait out, saving all parties a little time and hassle.

Link bait ought is effective if it attracts searchers who are most likely to be interested in the first place.

Which Keywords To Use

SEOmoz has a helpful post on their blog about using conversations with clients and potential customers to do keyword research.

Who knew your receptionist might be the most valuable keyword research tool you have?

There are a variety of tools and techniques recommended for SEO keyword research, from the free to the expensive, from the well-known to those that are almost kept a secret. However, there's one source of keyword ideas which is often overlooked: the customers (and potential customers) served on a daily basis.

SEO isn't always complicated. However, it is easy at times to overlook some of the most obviously helpful tactics. Check out their blog post and get the people in your office taking notes.

Organic Search Engine Marketing for Small Business

Small business owners have to take advantage of every low cost (but effective) marketing opportunity they can get their hands on. Now they have an even better chance to increase search engine rankings for their business with Google Caffeine.

This significant change in the dominant search engine's methods for delivering organic search results, also known as SERP's, favors specialization. Long tail keywords go hand-in-hand with that specialization.

An obvious example of this sort of keyword is "organic search marketing for small business." This phrase is made up of five separate words but is, nevertheless, referred to in the singular as a keyword. Because it does consist of more than one or two words it can be called a long tail keyword Chris Anderson popularized the "long tail" concept is in his book by the same name. (See Wikipedia article.)

A few years ago it would have been enough to focus on "marketing" or "small business" but as searchers become more and more sophisticated they are learning to add additional modifiers. These extra modifiers make it easier for Google to offer more relevant search results thus making searchers much happier.

What this means is that a small business who is willing to make the extra effort can compete with much larger businesses by being more strategic with their copy writing. Smart use of these long tail keywords in the content on their website, blogs, and other social media sites will greatly increase the liklihood of a steady stream of visitors. Of course, do the research to insure that you aren't using completely irrelevant keywords to begin with. Doesn't do much good to rank #1 for something no one is searching.

Marketing Malpractice in Web Design

Is your web design company guilty of negligence? It's terrible to see beautiful sites that people obviously paid well to have built but that miss some of the most basic elements of on-page SEO, including good keyword strategy.

Countless newly minted web sites don't even have keywords in the page title. There are multiple versions of the home URL all competing for back links. Images go without good alt text. Code is bloated and sourced out poorly. The list goes on.

What good is a gorgeous site with amazing usability, if no one finds it. (Was that a tree crashing?)

Web design companies, as well as traditional marketing firms that outsource, owe it to their clients to provide good, basic SEO. Don't be guilty of marketing malpractice.

SEO Audit For Websites

On page SEO factors are only a small percentage of the factors that influence where a web page ranks in a search engine. Bottom line is that lots of diverse links have the most effect. However, there are critical technical issues that are virtually deal breakers. Get these things right the first time or get them fixed so that the link garden bears much (and better) fruit.

Here's a great article on SEO Technical audits.

What is Organic Search?

Seems almost every brand is slapping the label 'organic' on to their products. It's trendy and, most importantly, helps things to sell.

The best synonym for organic is natural. That will probably help to make more sense out of the meaning of organic search marketing.

Natural search results simply refers to the unpaid portion of the listings on the search engine results page (SERP). On a Google SERP these are the listings on the left side of the page, most of them anyway. There are usually a few at the top of the page that are Sponsored (paid for) results. On the right are the PPC ads.

Anyone can show up in the organic or natural search results. The search engine attempts to display the most relevant answer to the searcher's question, whether that's a product page, a video, a blog post, or a Tweet.

There are many basic "best practices" that businesses or individuals should be observing to help rank. Pay close attention to the page title as it is the most important on-page SEO factor. Be strategic with keywords but that doesn't mean stuffing the page with them. That's soooo 90's.

Showing up on the first page of the search engine is hugely valuable.