Utah SEO Marketing Blog

The Ultimate 2008 Top 7 SEO Tips for Professionals List

Here is the ultimate top-10 SEO tips list for seo professionals, enjoy!

1. Stop Reading SEO Top 10 Lists! - So my list is ok to read since its a top-7 list.  They are fun to read but limit your time on them and move on to bigger and better SEO research opportunities.
2. Read Less SEO Blogs and Do More SEO Work - Although it is very important to keep up to date with the latest and greatest SEO tactics and strategies it still amazes me how much time is wasted trying to be the ‘best’ when in reality you may not be getting anything done.  I have fallen into this typical SEO mindset in the past but have found much more success as I actually focus on DOING work rather than just LEARNING.
3. Optimize Your Own Website First - This is one of my goals in the coming 2-3 months.  There really is no excuse for not having your own website (especially if you work for an interactive agency) not optimized - including ‘we are so busy we don’t have time’ which is the one that I have used lately.  Just set aside some time and don’t let anything else bug you, it will pay off in the end as potential seo clients will notice how well your own website ranks for your targeted keywords.
4. Stop Trying to Outdo Your Local Competitor - Be friends with your neighbors.  Here in Utah the SEO industry atmosphere is sometimes a little too competitive when there is plenty of business out there for everyone.  Find ways you can work together rather than battle it out, in our experience we have found many of our ‘competitors’ are really not competitors at all as we go after different target markets.  Focus more on building relationships that trying to be ‘the best’, that will come naturally.
5. Worry More About a Client’s Profits Than Their Rankings - I am sure almost everyone agrees on this point by now.  Getting seo rankings is only one minor aspect of search engine optimization, even internet marketing, even marketing, or even the overall strategy of the company.  The end goal should be to bring in profits for the company, at a minimum what they are paying for seo and then some.  Start implementing other strategies such as usability, information architecture, user centered design, converion improvement, persuasion architecture, and overall unique advantage positions.
6. Don’t Take On SEO Clients That You Know Will Fail - I review all potential seo clients before we let them sign up, and there are some we turn away because we fill a search engine optimization campaign would fail.  This could be for a variety of reasons from not enough investment for success, too competitive, not enough keyword search volume, or an unkown product or service that no one  is searching for online.  If you find yourself in a situation like that do yourself and them a favor and just tell them its not worth it.
7. Focus On The Basics (HTML, Content, Links) - It also amazes me how many search engine optimization specialists still don’t get the basics right and jump into way advanced seo strategies.   I wonder if the three core fundamental seo components will ever change: html, content, and links.  Make sure your html is seo-friendly, have useful and informative content, and get some good quality links.  Enough said

Popularity: 88% [?]

Posted in Search Engine Optimization | 4 Comments »

Minimizing the Effects of SEO with a Website Redesign

This is a topic that seems to come up very often and I am surprised at how little information there is out there on the subject. I have put together a simple list of ‘must-do’ things to do when you are worried about your SEO rankings dropping when you do a website redesign or website re-launch. If you have a specific question about a website redesign and SEO feel free to post a comment and I will send you an answer if I have one.

1. Incoming links to the homepage will not be affected as long as they are keeping the same domain.

2. Keep the same domain if possible and if it has some SEO value.

3. If applicable keep the same url structure. If not setup 301 redirects from old to new pages.

4. Have at least the same amount of content on the website, but more is even better.

5. Have an .xml site feed setup for google sitemaps and yahoo sitemaps.

6. Setup a custom 404 page not found page that contains a custom message and maybe a website directory/sitemap.

7. Be patient. If you follow the above guidelines there should only be an adjusting period of 1 month or less while the search engines re-index the new website, but realize your rankings will fluctuate for a while - give them time to settle back in.

If there are specific pages that currently receive a lot of traffic you could setup a 301 redirect on those pages to send visitors to the new url. This is SEO friendly and will help the SE’s recognize that you are simply doing a website redesign. Setting up a sitemap account with Google and Yahoo would also be beneficial; that way you could generate an xml file and upload it directly to the SEs with a map of all the new pages to help them get indexed quicker.

Popularity: 84% [?]

Posted in Search Engine Optimization | No Comments »

Podcast Transcription Services Reviewed

Getting your podcasts transcribed into text can work out well for SEO and for those readers who don’t want to have audio enabled on their computer and would prefer reading. We found three lower-cost transcription services and tried them out with three different podcasts from my work. The purpose of us putting the podcasts on our blog in text format was strictly for search engine optimization purposes. As a sidenote the first day we put up our first podcast the traffic to our blog increased by 20% over the next week for searches landing on that podcast transcription.

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Popularity: 84% [?]

Posted in SEO Copywriting, Search Engine Optimization | 1 Comment »

Utah Corporate Alliance Event - January

I just got back from the jumpstart corporate alliance event that was held at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City.  This was the first official Salt Lake City Corporate Alliance Event, at least I am pretty sure it was.  I have been to several of their events in the past in Provo, Utah and have enjoyed them.  This one was also fairly good.  There were about 200-300 people there, by far more than you could go around and network with all in the same setting - but that is not the purpose.

I think if you are considering joining corporate alliance a lot depends on what your business does and your own personal personality / goals.  I work for Twelve Horses which is an internet marketing, web design, search engine optimization, web deveopment, email marketing, yada yada yada company - there are very few businesses out there that do not need a website or are interested in internet marketing to some degree.  I also enjoy meeting new people and building relationships on a personal level, if you are just there to try and get some sales it is not the best place for that, plus that turns people off. 

I met people from many different companies in Utah including seven peaks, mckonkie law firm, venture capital firms, media agencies, etc.  The food was ok, but I have a major stomach ache from it now, feel a little sick actually.  However other than that is was worth attending, if you are thinking about corporate alliance feel free to give me a shout and pick my brain on if it would be a wise move or not.

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Popularity: 84% [?]

Posted in Networking | No Comments »

Bad Example of Email Marketing - TLC Lasik

Sometimes it is just as fun to write about bad examples of online or email marketing as it is to write a post about bad examples. A few months ago I visited a Utah TLC Lasik center to get screened to see if I was a good candidate for lasik or not - which I am. Yesterday I was checking my personal email and I usually glance through my spam folder to make sure there are no emails that should not be there. I noticed an email from TLC Lasik in my junk email which I normally would not have opened but I was interested in their email marketing strategies so I opened it - how disappointing it was for several reasons:

1. The subject line was “Look forward to treasured moments with LASIK at TLC.” What is that supposed to mean? Generally speaking for most email marketing campaigns the sole focus of the sender is to make sure it doesn’t get caught by spam. The sole focus of the subject line is to make sure it gets opened. The sole focus of the content is to make sure they click through to the website to a landing page. The sole focus of the landing page is to direct them to information they are seeking to help them take an action on your website at some point. I don’t want to look forward to ‘treasured moments with LASIK at TLC’ and I doubt I ever will want to. I am interested in finding a reliable trustworthy successful low-risk affordable lasik center though. I am also interested in the end benefit - being able to see clearly without having to wear glasses. However since I am not interested in spending treasured moments with TLC Lasik then I would normally not have opened it and I doubt very many others did either.
2. The main text of the email was “Eric, Take the Next Step with TLC this season. Look forward to treasured moments with LASIK at TLC. What are you Waiting For?” There is a picture in the email of a smiling man and woman drinking wine together. Ok, lots of issues here.
3. First and foremost ‘this season’ is dead and gone, its no longer the holidays people! Christmas was two weeks ago and New Years was a week ago.
4. Next the picture and message suggests I want to go hang out with TLC Lasik and spend ‘treasured moments’ with them. Instead the message so focus on the benefits and information I am looking for. The email could focus on me not having to worry about having sweaty dirty glasses when I am out mowing my lawn in 95 degree weather, or not having to wait 2 minutes until I can see again after going out on a cold day while my glasses unfog, or maybe not worrying about the times when I forget my glasses at a movie theater and get stuck in the back because we are late and can’t see the screen in any detail whatsoever. The email could have focused on benefits like those but it didn’t.
5. “What are you waiting for?” What am I waiting for? If they do some market research they may find out that I am waiting on Lasik for financial reasons and for quality reasons. The email could have focused more on the 0% financing, how they have a discount if you do it on Wed. because its the slow day, how they just lowered their price $200 since I was last in, how their retreatment rate is only 5%, or how they just got the newest lasik machine that addresses quality issues with night vision. [those are all fictional examples by the way]

Overall it was a poorly written email, I am very disappointed especially since I consider them as my first choice to having Lasik when I do it finally. This email look like someone literally spent about 20 minutes to put together and just hastily hit the ’send’ button which is a huge long-term mistake. First it will get them more often in spam folders if the quality is not high and next time I receive an email from them I will automatically delete it since I already had one bad experience with an email from them with little or no valuable information for me.

Popularity: 100% [?]

Posted in Email Marketing | 1 Comment »