Posts Tagged ‘SEOmoz’
Best Web Analytics Tools and Tips of 2009
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010There’s a great scene from the original Cannonball Run in which one of drivers hops into his Ferrari convertible, rips the rearview mirror off of the windshield, tosses it out and then says to his startled co-driver, “What is behind us—does not matter.” In the world of analytics, all information is, by its nature, backward looking (you can’t measure what hasn’t happened yet). But it isn’t the historical measures themselves which are of interest to analysts, rather the trends they reveal and path(s) forward they illuminate. In short, to be valuable, analytics must be actionable; they should provide hard data to clarify what you should keep doing, what you should stop doing, and what you should do differently.
Learn more about creating custom reports in Google Analytics, improving site conversion rates, interesting tools that extend the capabilities of Analytics and more here in some of the best articles and blog posts on web analytics from the past year.
Google Analytics 101, Part 1 by Search Engine Watch
Frequent best-of contributor Ron Jones provides an excellent introduction to Google Analytics for newbies, and even intermediate users may learn something new here.
Eyes on the Prize with Custom Reports by Google Analytics Blog
Sebastian Tonkin provides step-by-step instructions for creating custom reports within Google, such as a report showing the conversion rate for visitors from a specific geography or traffic source.
Web Analytics and Segmentation for Better Conversion Optimization by SEOmoz
A detailed tutorial on using the Advanced Segments Tool in Google Analytics to gain insights into measures such as differences in conversion rates based on content viewed: sure, that popular blog post drew a lot of traffic, but was it productive traffic? Advanced Segments can help answer such questions.
6 Tools Every Google Analytics User Should Have by ROI Revolution
For technical analysts, Shawn Purtell reviews six—actually seven—Firefox extensions, Greasemonkey scripts and other tools that enhance the functionality of Google Analytics. One example is Social Media Metrics, a tools which “allows you to see social media and link bait statistics for your specific pages.”
Is Yahoo Analytics Better than Google’s? by ECommerce Guide
David Needle reports results of a CMS Watch study which gave higher marks to Yahoo’s analytics tool in a couple of areas, including higher default pageview limits for larger enterprises, and the ability to access and view raw data, which would “let you continue to maintain a historical record instead of starting over” if you ever move to a more robust paid analytics platform.
Polaris Puts Google Analytics On Your Desktop by I’m Just Sayin’
A brief but helpful review of Polaris, a free Adobe Air application that delivers eight of the most popular Google Analytics reports straight to your desktop without logging in. A slick, quick way to stay current on your web traffic stats.
New AdWords ID Data in Google Analytics API by Google Analytics Blog
Alex Lucas explains how to combine data from Google Analytics and Google AdWords to “get a (more) detailed picture of the performance of…ad creatives and keywords.”
New Google Analytics Features Can Help You Track Your Social Media Success & Failures by Social Conversations
Li Evans showcases several new features recently added or planned for Google Analytics, such as new goal tracking types, custom variables, mobile apps tracking and custom alerts.
100 Ways To Measure Social Media by MediaPost Social Media Insider
What metrics can be tracked in social media? David Berkowitz offers up his list of “100 thought-starters.” Some are easy (e.g. numbers of fans and followers), others are more challenging and may require more sophisticated tools, but it’s a great list for generating ideas.
How to Use Article Marketing as Part of Your Social Media Strategy
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010Guest post by Beth Hrusch
As you may know by now, article marketing is an effective way to gain credibility and establish yourself as an expert in your field. By writing articles about topics of interest to your readers, and distributing them on article directories, you can give your content the kind of exposure that would be hard to get anywhere else. But, what many people don’t realize is that article marketing isn’t just for directories anymore.
Social media has become an effective vehicle for content distribution, and articles are no exception. According to the Small Business Success Index, sponsored by Network Solutions (2010), one in five small businesses are now actively using social media. About 75% of those surveyed have a company page on a social networking site. What makes social media so effective for marketing purposes? The simple answer is that it gives your content massive exposure across a wide range of platforms.
Articles can easily be distributed using social media news and bookmarking sites, for example. Each of these sites has strengths and weaknesses, and some will suit certain goals better than others. Here are 5 of the most popular:
1. Facebook- With over 250 million members, it’s got tremendous reach. Generate interest with fans and friends by talking about topics related to your industry then link to your articles on your fan page. Ping articles and blogs automatically, so your groups can see your latest posts.
2. Twitter- Similar to Facebook, Twitter allows you to market your articles automatically and in real time. As a micro-blogging service, it allows businesses to communicate and share the latest information with customers, and link to articles and other content using a url shortener.
3. LinkedIn- For professional networking, setting up a profile in LinkedIn allows you to share your expertise with others in your group. Market your articles by sending them to your account or have them pulled from another social media account, to show up under your updates.
4. Digg- A really popular news/bookmarking site that can bring your articles massive exposure. Submitting your article to Digg takes interested readers directly to your article and your site, where they can also browse archived articles and check you out.
5. YouTube- What do videos have to do with article marketing? Both are content, just in different formats. Turn your articles into videos, using your text as a script. This can be done inexpensively, so almost any budget can handle it. YouTube is the 4th most popular website in the world, and videos consistently rank high in the search engines, so the potential to go viral is huge.
There are many more social media sites that lend themselves to article marketing. Check out the handy chart put together by the folks at Seomoz.com for more tips on how to use each site to market your business.
Article marketing has the power to establish you as an authority and give interested consumers a way to access your business through links to your site. Social media supercharges your articles by giving them wide and deep distribution throughout the web. Together, they help you reach a large, targeted audience without the need for an expensive marketing campaign. Be sure, though, that you research the social media sites- how they work and what their terms of service are. Some will work better for you than others.
Also, remember that article marketing is only effective if you commit to creating and distributing fresh content every week or so. Maintain both aspects of your marketing strategy and you’ll see results.
Beth Hrusch is Senior Editor at Interact Media, a content marketing software company.
Link Building: Let’s get it started!
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010Guest post by Emily Thompson
Getting links to your site is essential in SEO. The search engines view each link to your website like a vote- and while not all links are created equal, they are all counted! Perhaps you, like many small businesses, have decided to tackle building your own links. It’s important to know that link building can often take a lot of time, and be fairly arduous. However, the benefits are huge!
Let’s take a look at just how important links for your ranking in the search engines. This chart, courtesy of SEOmoz, 2009*, really helps hit it home. Based on a survey of some of the top SEO experts in the world, link popularity, or the number of backlinks a specific page has, and keyword anchor text from those external links, make up a large portion of your rank.
So, we know this is important. Crucial, even. So what can you do to get started? Following some of these tips can help you begin, and make the process a little easier:
- Create a plan: Think about which area of your business you would like to focus on first. A particular product? A service? Your general industry? Whatever it is, look for related sites or opportunities. Sectioning out your plan is very beneficial and makes the task at hand feel more manageable.
- Build a comprehensive list of potential link partners: This is, perhaps, the most tedious part of link building. It takes hours of manual effort, including researching non-competitive related websites, utilizing tools like Yahoo Site Explorer, or SEOMoz’s Open Site Explorer. You can use these to explore links to your competitors and attempt to contact them. Also grab the low hanging fruit- talk to current customers or clients, and see if they can link to you or write about you on their blog. The bigger you can get this list, the better. You will most likely get very few responses for every hundred contacts you attempt.
- Contact people personally: Again, this piece takes time, but it is absolutely worth it! If you come across as spammy, people are not likely to care what you have to say. Send genuine, thoughtful contact emails. If you’re interested in a link from a certain blog, actually read through it and take the time to comment honestly. Try to develop relationships as you do this- it can help you build online communities and really learn from each other.
- Get creative: Take advantage of every opportunity you have. Write articles, promote press releases, create content that people want to link to. Essentially, utilize every weapon in your arsenal. In addition, diversity can help you gain visibility and reach different audiences. Using different outlets helps you get traffic and interest, along with just a link.
There is a great aggregation of tools, articles and tips published recently on http://seo.site-reference.com. This comprehensive link building list really brings together many of the resources you should be utilizing when you’re ready to get moving with building links to your site. Make sure to learn as much as you can and make educated decisions about who to prospect and what tools to use. And remember- patience is a virtue! Take the time, get the results and don’t get discouraged!
*Source: SEOmoz (2009). Search Engine Ranking Factors. Retrieved March 11, 2010, from http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors
Author Bio: Emily Thompson is the Online Marketing Coordinator for Kutenda Internet Marketing Software (http://kutenda.com). Kutenda offers tools and resources for small businesses to succeed online and grow their business.
77 (of the) Best SEO Blog Posts and Articles of 2009
Monday, March 8th, 2010Search engine optimization (SEO) can sometime seem like the province of quick-buck hucksters, particularly when well-regarded technology writers like John Dvorak refer to SEO proponents as “snake oil salesmen” (wrong as he is). This is particularly so for those on Twitter, which is infested with scammers and spammers: “Buy my miracle internet marketing kit and get thousands of clicks overnight!” Ugh. The advice I gave in Just Say No to Bad SEO still applies.
But while the sleazeballs are out there, most companies seeking SEO assistance understand that it’s a long-term investment, and most practitioners are honest, competent sorts doing their best to produce results through a mix of art, science and established, non-manipulative techniques. For that majority just trying to produce quality content and get it fairly ranked through legitimate practices, here are some of the best articles and blog posts from last year on various aspects of SEO.
The posts and articles are divided into six categories: SEO Guides, Tips and Tactics; SEO Tools; SEO Link Building; SEO Keyword Research; SEO Keyword Tools; and Local Search Tips, Tactics and Tools.
SEO Guides, Tips and Tactics
Learn the Basics Before You Try Anything Fancy! by SEO.com
Dan Patterson
Performance-based Pricing for SEO won’t work by Conversation Marketing
Ian Lurie
SEOmoz’s Biennial Ranking Factors 2009 Released by SEOmoz
Rand Fishkin
Top Ten Ways To Get Banned From Google by High Position
Tobias Bowman
Top 5 Ranking Factors by SEOmoz
Rand Fishkin
Tips and tools for measuring your SEO strength by iMedia Connection
Grant Simmons
TopRank BIGLIST of 100+ Search Marketing Resources by TopRank Online Marketing Blog
Lee Odden
Google Caffeine Update: “Real-Time” Indexing Favors Fresh Content by All Virtual Marketing
Rebecca Murtagh
What should I do if I don’t know why I’m penalized? by YouTube
Matt Cutts (video)
Why Your Company Needs a Google Profile by Search Marketing Sage
Tad Miller
25 Link Building Tactics to Improve Blog Search Engine Rankings by TopRank Online Marketing Blog
Lee Odden
The Ultimate Fast Guide to SEO + Flash by MediaPost Online Media Daily
Rachel Moran
Social media offers SEO opportunities for dominating top 10 search terms by Brafton
The Importance of Business Blogging by SEO Wizardry
Pete Hollier
List of Best and Worst practices for designing a high traffic website by webconfs.com
The Truth About SEO by TopRank Online Marketing Blog
Lee Odden
Do It Yourself SEO by SEO Wizardry
Pete Hollier
SEO Tools
List of Free and Paid SEO Tools on the Internet by SEO & PPC Expert UK
Xenu’s Link Sleuth – Find broken links on web sites
Google Base Opens Up New Doors for Internet Marketers by Best Rank Search Engine Marketing
Ryan Frank
Crawl Your Site for Broken Links, Errors and Duplicate Content by Daily SEO Tips
Loren Baker
Google Insights for Search Just Got More Insightful by Find Resolution
Erica Barth
WordStream: Keywords Management Made Easy by Search Engine Journal
Mihaela Lica
BuzzStream – Link Building Tool
Google AdWords Traffic Estimator
101 Free SEO Tools by Investintech.com
Covario (formerly netconcepts) SEO Tools
Compare domain backlink history by Majestic SEO
KPMRS – Free Website Ranking Monitoring SEO Tool
Backlink Watch Free Backlink Checker
How to Do Keyword Research with OneLook Wildcard Search by Search Engine Journal
Ann Smarty
21 Free Keyword Density Analyzer tools to optimize your website by Kittu K
Aakanksha Kekan
List of Great Firefox Plugins for SEO by SEO.com
Dan Patterson
LinkExaminer: SEO Friendly Link Scanning Utility by Search Engine Journal
Ann Smarty
Free SEO Tools : 12 Absolutely Free Keyword Suggestion tools, Keyword Popularity tools by Kittu K
Aakanksha Kekan
Web Page Analyzer – 0.98 – from Website Optimization by Website Optimization
Small Business Guide to Tools that Help Your SEM by Search Engine Watch
Carrie Hill
Best Keyword Ranking Tools for SEO by WordStream Internet Marketing Blog
Ken Lyons
BLVD Status – Live Stats, Keyword Vitals Ranking Report and Custom Alerts
Analyze Link Popularity : 20 Free Backlink Checker Tools by Kittu K
Aakanksha Kekan
SEMRush – Advanced Keywords and Competitors Research Tool
SEO Link Building
Link Bartering by Search Engine People
Donna Fontenot
Link Building 101, Part 2 by Search Engine Watch (February)
Ron Jones
5 Ways to Optimize Your Existing Links for Maximum SEO Benefit by Winning The Web
Gyutae Park
The Perfect Link Request Email Template by Wiep.net
Wiep Knol
Online Forums: Marketing Muscle and SEO Strength by E-Commerce Times
Brandon Leibowitz
Link Building for Small eCommerce Sites by SEOmoz
Rob Ousbey
Linktive tries to end the SEO gaming with a social network for site links byTechCrunch Europe
Mike Butcher
Link Building from A to Z by SEOmoz
Wiep Knol
Link Building Tactics 101, Part 2 by Search Engine Watch (August)
Ron Jones
SEO Keyword Research
Peering into Match-Types: The Hidden Info Advantage of the Google Adwords Keyword Research Tool by The Acquisio Blog
Naoise Osborne
What Parts of Marketing Can’t be Automated? by SEO Book
Aaron Wall
SEO Keyword Tools
Do more with less – Part 3 of 3 by Indside AdWords
Amanda Kelly
An Insider’s Look At Google’s Search Based Keyword Tool by Search Engine Land
Josh Dreller
Free Keyword Suggestion Tools by Marketing ROI or Die
Rebekah Paul
Use Multiple Keyword Research Services with KeywordSmash by Search Engine Journal
Ann Smarty
4 tools for measuring your keyword strength by iMedia Connection
Bob Alperin
Improving Keyword Research by SEO Wizardry
Pete Hollier
Local Search Tips, Tactics and Tools
Search Engine Confidence Score Has A Google-Like Feel by MediaPost Online Media Daily
Laurie Sullivan
Gettin’ to Know GetListed.org by SEOmoz
Rebecca Kelley
3 Keys To Success For Local Search SEO by Search Engine Journal
Ryan Caldwell
How Citations Help with Local Search by ClickZ
Mary Bowling
Leveraging Reverse Search For Local SEO by Search Engine Land
Chris Silver Smith
A Framework for Thinking About Local Search Campaigns by Mihmorandum
David Mihm
Local Search Strengthens Move To Maps, Reviews by MediaPost Online Media Daily
Laurie Sullivan
Tools for Local Search by ClickZ
Mary Bowling
Local Search 101, Part 2 by Search Engine Watch
Ron Jones
A Closer Look At Local Search Ranking Factors by Search Engine Land
David Mihm
I Think Yahoo Neighbors Could Be Huge by Small Business Search Marketing
Matt McGee
Local Listing: An Attempt to Understand Rank Factors by SEOmoz
Tim Sorweid
Despite Assurances, Google Place Pages Now Showing In Search Results by Search EngineLand
Greg Sterling
Citysearch Rolls Out Twitter Integration On Business Listing Page by MediaPost Online Media Daily
Laurie Sullivan
When All Search Is Local by ClickZ
Mary Bowling
Best of 2009: SEO Tips and Tactics, Part 2
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010Is it really impossible to optimize a Flash website? How can social media profiles help with SEO? Is your website optimized for the way search engines work now, or are your SEO efforts still focused on yesterday’s ranking factors? Which best practices and advanced SEO techniques should you be taking advantage of? What characteristics and skills are most important for SEO? How much should SEO really cost, and how can you avoid hiring an SEO consultant who is incompetent (or worse)? Which helpful tools may be missing from, or underutilized in your SEO toolkit?
Find the answers to these questions and many others here in more of the best SEO articles and blog posts from 2009.
How to SEO Flash by Hochman Consultants
Jonathan Hochman writes that “Flash gets a bad rap” for optimization, and explains in detail how to SEO a Flash website. Another great post on this topic is The Ultimate Fast Guide to SEO + Flash by MediaPost Online Media Daily, in which Rachel Moran prescribes mixing HTML and Flash, using optimization tools and other techniques for enhacing search results for Flash sites.
10 Ways to Be a Great SEO by Search Engine Journal
Matt Leonard advises that to be a great SEO, the key is to simply “get things done,” including using a variety of keyword tools, being a team player, and valuing goals beyond rankings. Another fantastic post from Matt is The ABCs of a Great SEO Leader in which he walks through the alphabet of attributes critical to SEO leadership, from A (analytical) to Z (zero mistakes).
How Social Media Profiles Help with Search Engine Optimization by Social Media Today
Jim Tobin shows how individuals can use tools like blogging, social media profiles and podcasts to rank highly for their own name.
10 Things You Can Do To Optimize for Image Search by Search Engine Journal
Saptarshi Roy Chaudhury demonstrates how to use image files names, alt tags, surrounding text and other atrributes to show up well in image searches. In another key post for SEOs, 9 Reasons Your Website Can Have a High Bounce Rate by Search Engine Journal, Saptarishi explains how a high bounce rate can diminish the effect of SEO efforts, and how to make websites not only more attractive to visitors but also more sticky.
4 ways to make long-tail search deliver by iMedia Connection
Craig Greenfield makes the case that “long-tail strategies…can create healthy, long-term growth for search marketers” and provides a four-step plan for long-tail search.
The Search Taxonomy: Getting Inside the Mind of the Searcher by SEO Book
In this long and detailed post, Peter Da Vanzo covers a tremendous amount of ground, from eye-tracking studies and understanding search demographics to recognizing commercial intent in searches and analytics.
Is Everything You Know About SEO Wrong? by aimClear Blog
Maybe not everything, but Matt Peterson here reviews the results of a panel discussion on SEO Ranking Factors in 2009 from the SMX Advanced 2009 event, with commentary on what works now for SEO-as opposed to what used to work-from experts like Rand Fishkin, Marty Weintraub and Danny Sullivan.
SEO Ranking Factors for 2009 by WebProNews
Mike McDonald provides his own take on SMX Advanced 2009 here, outlining the most important current ranking factors with title tags and anchor text at the top of the list. You may be surprised by what’s no longer as important as it used to be for SEO.
30+ Advanced SEO Tactics, Techniques and Resources (55+ Links) by SEOptimise
Tad Chef offers up an outstanding list of SEO tactics and techniques for website design, anlaytics, content creation, link acquisition, social media outreach and more.
SEO Best Practices: SEOmoz’s New Policies Based on Updated Correlation Data by SEOmoz
Using hard data, Danny Dover analyzes key factors for ranking and provides best practices for each along with the reasoning behind each recommendation.
Small Business SEO: Costs, Expectations & Realities by Small Business Search Marketing
Matt McGee details five key points to help small business owners understand more about SEO, pricing, and services.
The 12 Skills That Have Served Me Best in My SEO Career by SEOmoz
Rand Fishkin shares the skills that have made him a recognized leader in the field of search engine optimization, from having an analytical mindset and some technical knowledge of how the Internet works to writing proficiency and (possibly most important), “a thick skin.”
SEO Predators: Willing to Decieve For Business by aimClear Blog
Reminiscent of my post on SEOmoz, Just Say No to Bad SEO, Marty Weintraub here warns prospective SEO buyers about the danger of shady, johnny-come-lately SEO wannabes, writing “the latest generation of predatory SEO creeps proffer blatantly false information camouflaged by pretty reports. Deceptively branded reports aside, buyer beware when the snakes come to call. Here’s some hard facts to dispel this week’s crap-ass haze of myths and misinformation.”
The Ultimate List of Basic SEO Resources for a Kick-Ass Start by Search Engine Journal
The brilliant Ann Smarty shares her list of high-quality resources for those new (and even not so new) to SEO, ranging from the SEObook Glossary and the SEO Cheat Sheet by SEOmoz to Matt McGee’s SEO Checklist.
Demystifying Google Webmaster Tools Reports, Part 2 by ClickZ
Erik Dafforn provides an excellent walk-through of the functions and capabilities of Google’s Webmaster tools.
