The Search Artist - Joseph Franklyn McElroy

Banner Ads Drive Search

2009-06-24T16:22:00.003-04:00

So about to be released is a research study by the Online Publishers Association that analyzed consumer behaviors of those Internet users who were exposed to display advertising on 200 of the most trafficked sites on the Internet. I am eager to see this research as one of the main headlines is that 1 in 5 viewers of the ad conducted a related search and 1 in 3 visited the site. Not only that, they found that when driven by display ads, a visitor spends 50% more time on the site.

While I don't know if this is an argument for putting your "drive" money into banners ads, since there might be more effective drivers like online video, but it does illustrate my main contention that search engine traffic is to be "captured" and not treated like it has been driven by your SEO campaign.

But don't switch your budget out of Search Marketing either, as Display Advertising (or any media) goes hand-in-hand with your SEM efforts. A recent study by iProspect found that just as many people exposed to an ad did a related search as those who clicked on the ad. Moreover, over 40% eventually did a related search.

The upshot, learn your marketing drivers and optimize your digital footprint to capture the leads!

Influence Drive Optimize

2009-06-18T16:08:00.002-04:00

Over the last year we have been working closely with Corinthian Media, a media buying firm, to develop SEO programs for some of it's clients. Especially in the Direct Response arena. Over that time, I have come to realize how much we in the Internet space often ignore the fact that a vast amount of the traffic we see through search engines is actually driven by traditional media. I found a fairly recent research study funded by Microsoft that found over 70% of search engine traffic is navigational in nature - meaning people already knew what they were searching for when they got to the engine.

This has lead me to think about the nature of marketing with SEO. I think a lot of times we get caught up in thinking we are "driving" traffic. But that is not true, we are "capturing" traffic that has been influenced and driven by other media. While this might be a viral campaign or extensive banner networks, most of it comes from television and other media. So, we at Corporate Performance Artists have reformulated our message and mission to reflect this fact. Read this article on Influence Drive Optimize to learn more.

This blog is published on Amazon Kindle (pending approval)

2009-05-15T11:33:00.001-04:00

I just went through a very simple process to publish my blog to the Amazon Kindle platform! A beta program that went live Wednesday allows my RSS feed to be available in the Kindle Store. I am still pending approval, but have high hopes that I will be accepted. You have to have your Tax Id and Banking information so that you can receive payments, but it was very secure and easy to do. Read more here

Trademark Keywords can be used in Google Ad compaigns

2009-05-14T10:49:00.001-04:00

Just not in the copy. In order to generate more revenue, Google is kicking up a controversial strategy to allow competitors to use each others trademarks in the keywords that cause ads to surface when people search for such things as brand names. Starting June 4, 200 countries (including the USA - see list here). This opens up new strategies for combined SEO and PPC campaigns, as research shows that 20% of clicks for brand name searches will actually go to comparison sites if one is available. Read more...

Google Introduces Rich Snippets

2009-05-13T14:57:00.001-04:00

Google helps users find pages by showing them a small sample of content on page - this is called the "snippet." Google uses a variety of techniques to create snippets and give users relevant information about what they'll find when they click through to visit a site. Well, Google just recently announced Rich Snippets, a new presentation of snippets that applies Google's algorithms to highlight structured data embedded in web pages.

Read more at Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Introducing Rich Snippets

Shoppers Shop Around

2009-03-20T10:04:00.004-04:00

In a study conducted by JupiterResearch, 61% of shoppers reluctant to make certain purchases can be positively influenced by online shopping resources, especially online content tools that connect them to the opinions and behaviors of other shoppers. The study also found that 42% of shoppers visited 3 or more sites to research their purchase, and nearly all consumers are spending more time online prior to purchase. This all makes sense as, in these economic times, consumers are looking for more validation for their buying decisions.

Multiple Sources Used by Online Shoppers To Find Products
*Information Source*	*% of Online Researchers*
Store/retailer websites	89%
Search engines	86%
Manufacturer websites	78%
User ratings and reviews	77%
Purchaser's recommendations	66%
E-mail recommendations	61%
Best sellers	59
Source: Jupiter Research/RichRelevance/BazaarVoice, February 2009

Jupiter Research also found that only 33% of online shoppers had made up their minds about the price they were willing to pay for their purchase in advance of going online to research. Even fewer began their research having made up their minds on:

Which item or title to choose (31%)
Which brand to buy (23%)
Which store they would use (16%)
When to make their purchase (13%)

This shift in behavior provides retailers with an opportunity to engage shoppers through content that connects them to products and builds their confidence in these carefully researched purchases. It points to the need for marketing campaigns that place content in carefully selected locations that represent all phases of the purchase decision. Ensuring that comparison sites and recommendation sources are highly placed and provide authoritative advise on the decision to buy.

Keyword research should be targeted for not only for the direct purchase, for words that indicate various decisions a buyer has to make - "review of..., price of..., etc"

And this is true, not just bad economic times, but during all conditions. Awareness of the complexity of the consumer buying process will lead to better planning to travel with them along their journey, and influencing them to buy from you when they finally put their money down.

Market Smart

2008-10-21T16:06:00.002-04:00

So, with the economy in a downturn, what are some possible tips for search marketers?

Have Clear Economic Targets-- Determine how aggressively or how conservatively you should be advertising and stick to your numbers. Before throwing more money at generating traffic, make sure your pages have high conversion rates.

Shift Dollars Into The Strongest Channel--This may mean moving money into organic search. It may mean moving it into pay-per-click—or another medium! Now isn't the time to maintain historic channel budget allocation simply because “we've always done it that way.”

Revisit Your Overall Marketing Strategy--Make sure that web site content and keywords reflect current market place conditions. Ensure that best practices are in place. For example, this might be a time that there are increased brand searches, as well as price/value messages.

Protect Your Bottom-Line--Don't let revenue targets established a year ago drive decisions you're making now.

Review Strategic Objectives--This might be the time for short-term ROI campaigns versus branding tactics.

Use Niche Marketing Tactics to Cut Costs: Focus Search Geographically--Instead of using search to build a broad national customer base, focus on local geographic areas (towns and cities) that are the highest concentration of your business sector. For example, Google local search emphasizes the nearest geographic center of the city. So, if you are a business that services the entire city, and your actual address isn't relevant to your customers, then using a P.O. box near the the center of town is likely to improve SEO rankings. This strategy is not advised for restaurants or boutiques-- businesses where physical proximity matters to its customers.

Maintain Search Presence--Targeted campaigns, even at highly reduced spending levels, are better than stopping SEO efforts, which are maximized over time.

Stay Calm--The American entrepreneurial spirit will prevail.

Being Human

2008-09-26T15:57:00.001-04:00

I was recently talking to Donna.about my rededicated effort to be "human" in my approach to life. As opposed to being "animal," I intend to communicate more clearly to myself the actual results I desire from my actions. For example, when I eat something I really want to achieve health and well-being, not fullness and emotional support.

"Human" communication is also important when writing your SEO content. Think about it. What is the desired result of your marketing campaign? To communicate your message to other humans who will buy from you.

Nasty, keyword stuffed prose just won't accomplish your desired outcome. Traffic is important, sales feeds your babies. So no matter where you plan to put content, make sure it is human readable.

-- Post From My iPhone

Sharing is not always a good idea

2008-09-24T18:15:00.001-04:00

When you go to pick a hosting account for your website, if you intend to get search engine results do not use a shared IP account. Get a hosting package that provides a unique IP for your domain.

Not only do you avoid being blocked by corporate firewalls because someone else sharing the same IP is a porn site, you also get a quicker trust factor from the search engines. Trust is important because until you are trusted, you remain low in the rankings no matter what you do.

Another piece of advice to build your domain's trust: always make sure your registration has over a year before it expires. Google thinks spammers are cheap and lazy - only registering domains for a year and on shared IP accounts.

-- Post From My iPhone

SEO People

2008-04-07T15:33:00.003-04:00

There has always been a recurring controversy in the technical world - "are good programmers born or are they made?" Essentially the responses vary between "there are superstars and the rest don't matter" and "let machines do all the coding better than humans". Usually there are underlying motivations to every answer, like a vendor with a code generator to sell, or a programmer with freelance services to sell.

My own response always fell on the side of the superstar programmer, as that was a self-serving answer to support my livelihood. Now it is interesting to see, as an SEO (and still superstar programmer), that the controversy has cropped up in the SEM world.

Essentially, people are saying that good Search Engine marketers are naturally talented and able to manage complex campaigns. And that there is a shortage of these people.

Let me tell you why this is true. No matter what side of the programmer debate you are on, most people agree that there is a shortage of programmers. Well, I believe that the really good SEO/SEM person is also a programmer! They have to be able to analyze complex systems, modify algorithms, debug problems, and report on progress sometimes with only an intuitive grasp of where things stand.

So if there is a shortage of programmers, and with more responsibilities falling on programmers shoulders, there is just less opportunities to find underemployed superstars.

All this is probably why I am enjoying being an SEO and much as I do - because it utilizes the same talents that make me a great programmer, if I do say so myself :)

Spreading the Message

2008-03-31T16:32:00.003-04:00

As well as being a marketer and programmer, I am an artist. So I always keep my eyes open for those special talents who create something that inspires viral linking on the Internet. This video below is especially effective for me

It combines talent with Design and SEO in a enjoyable delivery that is going to get this guy noticed. Bravo for an inspiring effort and demonstrating the power of talent in marketing.

The Stag at the Water's Edge

2008-03-12T17:03:00.000-04:00

I just recently had a discussion with someone where I stated that creativity is on the dark side of human nature. They were shocked, and I was somewhat surprised myself. But as I thought about it, I realized that this dark side is not equivalent to evil. What I meant is that creativity is about solving problems that don't have a well illuminated path towards a solution.

The process of creativity intrigues me. I have made a study of it. I get very passionate about creative problem solving. And what I find fascinating is that many people, if not most people, are afraid to go into the dimly lit world where creativity awaits. I am not alone in this observation. David White, a creativity consultant, observes in his book "The Heart Aroused" that in the ancient poem Beowulf, a stag about to run into a deep lake, instead prefers to stand and die. The fear of the deep, dark waters was more intimidating than fear of death. He likens the edge of the lake to the edge of our fear.

I want to offer you assistance of myself and the other Corporate Performance Artists to face that edge. We have dove deep into the lake of creativity. In Art, Technology, and Business. And unlike Beowulf, who hides his sword, we do not hide the tools that make us successful. We help you learn and understand from what we accomplish.

While the pool of creativity from which we can offer services is large, I will give you some specific areas that we are immediately prepared to help:

Search Engine Optimization - driving more targeted traffic to your web site.
Custom Web Development - building web sites, ecommerce, and applications for the Internet
Rich Internet Applications - creating state-of-the-art media and database applications for the web and desktop
Business Development and Market Research - helping you plan your Internet Business
Online Reputation Management and Fundraising - for non-profits raising their game.

We take on a very few client partners, preferring to give exclusivity with an appropriate reward. We are currently seeking to add another relationship. We are seeking fee based or revenue share relationships. Some equity opportunities might be accepted. We also seek to work with non-profits that want to increase their online fundraising.

Our track record includes: building major systems for Fortune 500 companies, helping launch a CAFM startup that was purchased by a larger company, raising several million for a dot-com that became profitable, creating the technology for a successful online retailer, and launching a print on demand solution. Currently we are helping a music and a media startup. We also have several SEO client partners doing very well.

We need another client partner. Are you wanting to dive deep into the pool? Give me a call at 646-334-1885.

Bridging the CPG Search Gap

2007-11-08T13:28:00.000-05:00

In last week’s blog, I talked about the surprising findings of a major study of online consumer behavior, "The Digital Shelf: the Opportunity for Search Marketing in Consumer Packaged Goods." Statistics illustrated that consumers are going online in record numbers to find ordinary consumer products such as baby foods, dish detergents, skin care products.

Search professionals, myself included, aren’t surprised by these findings, but Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies are still shaking their heads with genuine shock. The average CPG spends 1% or less of their total advertising dollars on search. They have a lot of work ahead of them to move their product websites up to first page rankings.

Earlier today I arbitrarily searched "gentle dish detergents" on behalf of everyone with detergent-abused hands and wondered if my personal favorite, Dawn, would show up. A few environmentally friendly dish detergents appeared in the top spots. Dawn dish detergent showed up in fifth and sixth positions, but it wasn’t the company site; it was epionions.com and a North Carolina woman who undertook her own study of which dish detergent did the best job of gently cleaning black, sticky oil off of birds. (Dawn won the test.) I stopped looking for the dawn-dish.com site after the fifth results page. Clearly, they have some work to do to improve their rankings for "gentle dish detergents."

My wife told me to search "flake-proof mascara," because she was curious to see if her favorite brand, L’Oreal, showed up. Sorry to say, it didn’t, and I stopped looking after the fifth results page. However, websites selling Paula Dorf’s mascara filled the top 10 positions, and Paula’s company site, pauladorf.com, had a respectable second page position. We had never heard of Paula Dorf before today, but now my wife is going to buy and try Paula’s mascara. Did L’Oreal just lose a customer to Paula? Very possibly.

It’s a very good thing that "The Digital Shelf" study hit the newsstands. Now CPG companies can see the tremendous, untapped potential of search for their consumer brands. Search will help them reach a much wider audience of people who aren’t just looking for coupons, but are genuinely looking for product information to make an intelligent buying decision. After all, there’s a lot more room on a website for compelling product information and demonstrations than there is in a 30-second TV commercial or a half-page magazine ad.

CPG companies are waking up to very good news. They are beginning to understand that "search is, indeed, synonymous with reach." Search can reach the millions of potential customers who are hunting on line for their kind of products. Now all they have to do is increase their Internet budgets and watch the magic happen.

2007 FTC Workshop: Ehavioral Advertising: Tracking, Targeting, and Technology

2007-10-31T11:22:00.000-04:00

On November 1 and 2, 2007, the Federal Trade Commission will host a Town Hall entitled “Ehavioral Advertising: Tracking, Targeting, and Technology.” The event will bring together consumer advocates, industry representatives, technology experts, and academics to address consumer protection issues raised by the practice of tracking consumers’ activities online to target advertising - or “behavioral advertising.” The Town Hall is a follow-on to a dialogue on behavioral advertising that emerged at a November 2006 FTC forum, “Tech-Ade,” which examined the key technological and business developments that will shape consumers’ core experiences in the coming ten years. In addition, several consumer privacy advocates, as well as the State of New York, recently sent letters to the FTC asking it to examine the effects of behavioral advertising on consumer privacy.

2007 FTC Workshop: Ehavioral Advertising: Tracking, Targeting, and Technology

Searching for Baby Food

2007-10-30T10:48:00.000-04:00

Do people care enough about consumer packaged goods (CPG) to go online and search for their websites? A recently released study of online search habits says, without a doubt, they do.

The study is a joint project of ComScore, SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization) Proctor and Gamble and Yahoo, and it’s creating quite a buzz online these days.

Entitled "The Digital Shelf: the Opportunity for Search Marketing in Consumer Packaged Goods," the extensive study found out that the majority of American consumers visited at least one package-goods website during the first three months of 2007. Search was the driver of a good percentage of their visits.

Look at these numbers: Food products led the pack with nearly 44 million category site visitors from search. Baby products generated 15.7 million visitors; personal care products followed with 9.8 million and household products attracted 1.7 million visitors. Search created a significant percentage of those visits: 60% of visitors to baby product sites; 47% of visitors to food sites; 27% of visitors to personal care sites, and 23% of visitors to household products sites.

They’re not just clipping coupons

More fascinating statistics: The study also revealed that the majority of non-searchers and searchers weren’t just clipping electronic coupons (that activity accounted for 47% of non-searchers and 40% of searchers). The bigger numbers came from people seeking information and help about consumer products - 73% of searchers and 58% of non-searchers.

This is a pivotal report for all of us in the Search Engine Marketing profession. It proves that search is playing an ever-increasing role in how consumers make important buying decisions, whether it’s shopping for a mortgage or finding out how safe their baby foods are.

Not only is search bringing more traffic to CPG sites, that traffic is first-class. Searchers are predominately female, with higher incomes, better educated, and bigger spenders than non-search traffic.

The potential for search is tremendous for CPG companies who are now spending a mere sliver of their advertising budgets on search. It looks like search can reach the mass audiences these major conglomerates have been having such a hard time reaching in traditional, offline media.

"The Digital Shelf" study is huge for SEM professionals like me who have always known that search would become a ever-increasing part of people’s lives. Search helps make sense of our information-overloaded society and all of the choices we face. It helps us make better, faster decisions whether we are house hunting or shoe shopping.

Subject for our next article: "Bridging the CPG Search Gap." Consumers are searching online for CPG products, but even their favorite products are hard to find.

Link Building -- The Right Connections for Higher Rankings

2007-10-23T07:48:00.000-04:00

The mad scramble for building reciprocal links with anybody that has a pulse and a website should now be officially labeled as a waste of time. Google is no longer impressed when they see that your pet supplies site has a meaningless, reciprocal link with a riverboat casino. Their search algorithms are so intelligent they can tell the difference between relevant links and bogus ones. As you might guess, Google automatically de-values the bogus ones.

This development doesn’t mean that link building no longer works; it just means that thoughtless, irrelevant link building won’t pass the test anymore. Relevant links from and to other sites are still a basic and important way search engines judge the value and trustworthiness of your website in the bigger context of the Internet community.

So the real question is: how do you build links in a way that generates valuable links in Google’s eyes? Here are a few guidelines that will get you started in the right direction:

Don’t build your links too fast because Google will see your activity as a large, red flag emblazoned with the word "SPAM."
Build links with a relevant context in mind. If you have a pet supplies site, linking to sites that feature leash-free dog parks, pet charities, veterinarians, dog trainers, boarding facilities, animal shelters, pet shows and so forth, would be examples of relevant links.
Build links with high-quality, relevant sites. If you are a member of professional organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, link to their sites and ask them to list your website in your member information.
Rent links from a reputable link broker like www.text-link-ads.com. Top websites know their value in the link-building world and, like most things in life; you get what you pay for. If you don’t have the time to link build on your own, a broker is the perfect alternative.
Be an event sponsor for a charity that is close to your heart or a professional conference in your industry. Event sites always link back to their sponsors.

I hope I’ve helped you understand that link building as a search engine marketing strategy is in a new era now, and you have to do it the right way to reap the rewards.

As always, if you’re ready to power your site and improve your rankings with Search Engine Marketing, give Corporate Performance Artists a call, and we’ll show you some ways to get started.

Behavioral Marketing - SEO’s New Sales Force

2007-10-16T18:50:00.000-04:00

There are lots of analytics programs on the market these days that give us a "fly on the wall" picture of how site visitors behave as they wander around websites. It’s all great information for fine-tuning our sites and knowing which pages need more work. We can even tell which pages led to an order or a request for information or a newsletter sign-up. What we haven’t known is what to do when a visitor leaves the site without taking any recordable action.

Chasing Sales beyond the Site

Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to follow those lost prospects "out the door and down the street," tap them on the shoulder, and remind them of a special deal that they may have missed when they were on your site? Wouldn’t it be cool to convert those lost prospects into buyers after they’ve gone on to other sites?

Now there is a smart way to do just that, and Corporate Performance Artists knows how to make it happen for your sites.

More Chances to Make the Sale

How is this possible, you ask? By adding behavioral marketing to your SEO strategy. Corporate Performance Artists is able to tap into a network of super sites that draw the highest traffic on the Internet. Social networking sites like MySpace and YouTube, and international shopping centers like Ebay. We now have the ability to put a piece of code called a cookie on every visitor that doesn’t buy or take a recordable action on your site. That code follows them around the Internet. When they visit sites in our network, we are able to tap them on the shoulder over and over again with a banner ad about your company. The ad is customized with a special offer that gives them another compelling reason to buy from you. Imagine the power of your ads popping up when your site visitors are on eBay or MySpace. Imagine being able to convert "lost traffic" into found customers.

Intriguing, isn’t it?

Give us a call, and we’ll tell you more about this powerful, behavioral marketing tool that can enhance the impact of your SEO program. Now you don’t have to lose the sale just because your prospects left your site.

A Different Twist on Social Networking

2007-09-17T16:29:00.000-04:00

In my August 23, 2007 blog on Corporate Alumni Networking, I mentioned that I had recently joined an alumni networking group that IBM created specifically for ex-employees like me. This group focuses on business networking and making potentially rewarding connections with other people who share the common experience of having worked for IBM. What a great idea for communicating business opportunities!

It also started me thinking about popular, social networking sites and the potential for business networking in those online venues. Social networkers come together to chat and share information about common interests and hobbies. Over time, it’s easy to build up comfortable relationships with fellow networkers. You get to a point where you understand their passions and pet peeves. You probably know what they do for a living and who irritates them the most at work.

I believe that social networking sites could deliver more tangible, measurable benefits to their members if they incorporated structured business networking into their services. People are already coming to their site for socializing; why not invite them to scheduled, online, networking sessions similar to Business Networking International? B.N.I. is the largest organization of it kind and has a highly successful process that could be used as a model for weekly business networking meetings on social networking sites. It’s a proven fact that people thrive on structure and tend to flounder without it.

For example, every week B.N.I. meetings are held at neighborhood hotels or restaurants before work or during the lunch hour. Meetings begin with a 60-second introduction by each member, telling the group what specific resources their company is looking for. After introductions, there is a planned, educational 10-minute talk by one member who goes into detail about their company’s services and products. Everybody learns something about the members at every meeting and actively tries to connect other members with interested prospects.

Smart social networking sites can increase their value to their members exponentially if they add organized business networking to their offerings.

Best Little Blog: Behavioral Marketing - Take Notice

2007-09-08T11:20:00.000-04:00

Best Little Blog: Behavioral Marketing - Take Notice

For years behavioral targeting has been kept in the background, almost as a secret weapon only used in times of need. Only recently has the mass market started to take note of the power and efficiency in better targeting consumers, truly maximizing marketing dollars. Did anyone catch the NPR segment on behavioral marketing?

Corporate Alumni Social Networking Groups

2007-08-23T11:10:00.000-04:00

Recently I was invited to join an alumni networking group - but this time it wasn’t an invitation from my alma mater, Duke University. It was from my ex-employer, IBM. IBM’s venture into employee alumni networking got its start in Europe, and is now making its way across the Big Pond to America. IBM is one of a small, but growing, group of corporations who are beginning to look at resources beyond their current employees in a deliberate and structured way.

I’ve been very intrigued with this new group ever since I joined several weeks ago. It started me thinking about some core issues: For instance, what is the value of an employee alumni networking group to the corporation that creates it? And, what is the network’s value to the ex-employees who join it?

For a corporation, the value is

Tap into a larger creative pool of talent for ideas.
Larger test audience for proposed initiatives before they go generally public.
Given that the average employement time is shrinking, IBM can keep close to a pool of trained people for staffing up during times of need.
Make it more likely that current employees can find mentors without an internal agenda.

From an ex-employee standpoint, I can think of several potentially big benefits of being a member:

Access to the significant corporate resources that were once available to me as an employee
Connections to other ex-employees with whom I feel a real camaraderie
Endless opportunities for doing business with other ex-employees regionally, nationally, or globally.
Involvement in initiatives of mutual interest such as community projects with other ex-employees, non-profits, and socially responsible people
Knowledge of IBM’s open contracts for vendors

As a Search Engine Marketing specialist on the cutting edge of a burgeoning industry, I also realize that I will be able to easily connect with fellow ex-IBMers who need help and guidance to develop a Search Engine Marketing strategy for their own companies.

In the short time I’ve been a member, I have already been approached with two business offerings - an investment opportunity and a European partnership offer. It doesn’t take long to see how these networking groups can be a dynamic conduit for successful business dealings that would seldom have happened outside of the group.

If you are a member of a corporate alumni network, I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences, too. In future blogs, I will come back to this subject and talk about the "Social Networking Aspects of Corporate Alumni Groups."

About the Change

2007-08-15T18:51:00.000-04:00

Ok. I have to have fun with this blog or I will never get serious about it. Does that make sense? Here is how it is going to work. I am going to write off-the-cuff posts like this, generally give you a stream of consciousness thoughts-of-the-day or new ideas or jokes or whatever. Like for example, the change of the blog name into something fun and writing this post itself represent a new tactic I am executing. To attract visitors by being more approachable and funny. But still demonstrating my expertise, as there will be weekly (or more often) posts of a more formal nature like the one below. To get those posts, I have a weekly think tank session with Francesca Yates over at FreeLanceWriters.us who pushes and prods me into spilling out some words of wisdom which she then translates into something legible. I hope this all works.

Long-tail Keywords

2007-08-15T17:42:00.000-04:00

The assault is on. You have your list of premium keywords for your industry – the ones that literally make your mouth water. You’ve optimized for them organically and you are banking your PPC campaign on them, too. These perfect keywords are not going to come to you without a fight; there’s just too much competition, but, what else can you do?

Grab it by the Long Tail.

While others are participating in a virtual feeding frenzy over the most coveted keywords, I always advise my clients to expand their marketing using “Long Tail” thinking. This concept, first introduced by Chris Anderson in Wired magazine in 2004, describes how the Internet has made it possible for a company to generate as many sales from “fringe” products that aren’t bestsellers as they do from their bestsellers. These sales come in over a longer period of time (hence the term “long tail”), but can eventually equal half of the total company sales. The Internet makes it possible for a company to have limitless virtual shelf space, whereas a brick-and-mortar business would end up telling the customer, “I’m sorry. We don’t stock that item.”

How does “Long Tail” apply to your keywords?

Many SEM companies focus exclusively on tracking 10 to 20 top keywords, thinking that 80% of their clients’ sales will come from them; but a closer look at actual site analytics paints a different picture. Site analytics shows traffic for the most used keywords first and filters down to the least used ones. There is always a dramatic drop in traffic between the high numbers for the optimized keywords and all the other keywords.

These “lesser” or “long-tail” keywords, often hundreds of them, form a long list of search terms visitors regularly use that goes unnoticed and untracked. They slip in quietly under the radar – a few visits per keyword every day – drip…drip…drip. When you add them up, this group of overlooked keywords can actually be responsible for as much as 80% of your clients’ sales.

Track your long-tail keywords.

Start tracking your long-tail keywords’ connection to actual sales. The results will be eye-opening. You will uncover key search terms of untapped, niche markets that you can begin to optimize and easily dominate. Use these overlooked keywords to expand your thinking about your overall marketing. It can revolutionize your business and your SEM results for your clients.

PodCamp Boston 2 is October 26 - 28, 2007!

2007-08-15T17:21:00.001-04:00

PodCamp Boston 2, the New Media Community UnConference, will be at the Boston Convention and Expo Center October 26 - 28, 2007. If you're a blogger, podcaster, social networker, or new media enthusiast, register for FREE at PodCampBoston.org.

read more | digg story

What is your SEO strategy missing with “one-way thinking”?

2007-08-07T10:44:00.000-04:00

Many people in the SEM (Search Engine Marketing) business have gotten very good at implementing vertical marketing strategies for their clients. They know how to drill down and grab every keyword configuration uncovered by their keyword research. Even with all of their research, their organic optimization methods and their paid search techniques, it can still be difficult, if not impossible, to crack the ranks of the most used keywords because the competition is doing exactly what they are doing.

For you, the business owner or corporation looking to expand its online market, it’s time to get out of that one-way, vertical mode of thinking about SEO and expand your horizons with a complementary strategy that can eventually double the results of any vertical SEO strategy.

I’m talking about “Lateral Thinking.” Here’s how it can dramatically enhance results for your web properties:

Example: You have a web property which sells Opera CDs. So far, as a result of your vertical marketing mindset, you’ve concentrated on keywords connected to specific opera singers, opera titles and composers of operas. Unfortunately, every other SEM effort for selling opera CD’s is taking a similar approach.

Look what happens when you add “Lateral Thinking” to your strategy. Lateral thinking looks more closely at the whole person who buys opera CDs. Who are they? What does their lifestyle community look like? If they buy opera CDs, what else would they tend to buy?

How about tickets to the opera, books and movies on opera, books on Italy and the world-famous La Scala Opera House, opera collectibles and memorabilia, vacations to Italy, subscriptions to National Public Radio …and the list goes on. Once you look more closely at the buyer’s lifestyle, instead of just one specific purchase, you can begin optimizing for these much less competitive keywords. The added bonus: even paid search utilizing these lateral search terms will cost far less and will generate just as much revenue over a longer period of time.

Then watch how your web properties traffic begins to rise.

How I can Help

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If your business model is too massive, unformed, or hitting a brick wall, I can help you find a core story and essential selling point. Or more specifically, in the current business climate, you need to have a great deal flexibility in your business model. This means you need to identify the core components of your business, which must remain consistent, and the complementary components of your business, which can be switched in and out depending upon business conditions.

For example, if you have a publishing company dedicated to news and information about opera music, a core component of your business is acquiring content about opera music. Complementary components might include 1) getting content by paying for it 2) getting content via a community model, 3) getting content from historical sources, 4) getting content from feeds. Other Complementary components related to revenues might include 1) making money from subscriptions, 2) making money from advertising, 3) making money from product sales, 4) making money from sponsorships. Once you identify the core and complementary components, you then design the best model you can, operate it, and as business conditions change, switch complementary components as needed.