Most everyone can reference a creative infographic they’ve recently seen that made an impression on them. Whether it had to do with the effects of sitting on a person’s body, the trustworthiness of different facial hair, or the price ranges of beer and hot dogs at Major League ballparks…there is a reason why these infographics leave deep impressions.

Many can debate the reason why an infographic can be so powerful. The fact is that infographics appeal to the visual learner in us all. By using good organization and clever design, an infographic can get across a point quickly and effectively.

So, what does this have to do with SEO, you ask. SEO involves the use of link building efforts through different outlets (e.g. social media, blogs, websites, etc) in order to build the credibility of a website. An infographic can be a great way to gather quality, relevant link backs by sharing readable and popular content.

For example, the below infographic was created by one of Adept’s clients, Phoenix Bats (one of the nation’s leading wood bat manufacturers), and has been successful in getting many bloggers to share it. This is a “win-win” because online readers love to see infographics so a blog owner is getting quality content to post and the client (in this case, Phoenix Bats) is getting a link back to their site from a credible source.

Google values and rewards these types of relationships because one of Google’s many goals is to encourage fresh and interesting content on the Internet. On top of that, Google is looking for users to decide which sites are the most relevant, which is why link backs are so valuable.

In conclusion, any small business out there that is looking to create buzz around their company, look into creating an interesting and valuable infographic to share…this will pay dividends in the end.

Via: Phoenix Bats: Wood Bats

Search Engine Optimization may seem like a daunting task because of all the businesses out there fighting for top search engine ranking, but small local businesses can make a localized SEO strategy work to their advantage in gaining web exposure via Google’s continual focus on localized search results.

The difference between a nationally operating company and a local small business is that the customers of a small business are usually from the area directly surrounding that business.

From an SEO standpoint, this means that the focus of the strategy is a bit different. SEO strategy should still involve on-site and off-site efforts, such as the quality of your site’s content as well as link building, but because of the geographic limitations of a local business, the SEO strategy should include utilizing geographic keywords.

Here are the main points when starting a localized SEO campaign:

• 1) On-Site Localization
  • Provide location data, such as physical address & phone number, on a Contact Us page
  • Make a point to include the different areas the business services (e.g. around the west side of Columbus it would be Grandview Heights, Upper Arlington, Grove City, Hilliard, etc.)
  • Add information about the business location & service areas but be sure not to “spam” the site with too much keyword density 
    • An acceptable keyword density (the percentage a keyword is used relative to how many words are on a page) is around 1% for a locally optimized page
  • Location Metadata – be sure to include the geographic keywords in the metadata of the site (e.g. title tags, descriptions, keywords)
• 2) Google Location-based Services (aka Google Maps)
  • Google Places – claim your business address (this may already exist, in many cases). Also do this for other Location-Based Services (e.g. Yahoo Local, Bing, etc)

    

  • Optimize your Google Places listing by adding “category” data (e.g. “dentist”, “plumber”, “veterinarian”, etc), as well as any additional contact information & business hours
  • Frequently update the content on your Google Places listing since Google continually rewards fresh content. Up-to-date content also ensures that potential customers have the correct information
  • Offer Promotions and/or Discounts to create buzz around your business and to reward customers for finding your local listing
• 3) Geo-targeted Paid Search
  • In conjunction with SEO efforts, localized Paid Search efforts can also prove valuable because of the ability to target unique areas (e.g. 30 mile radius around the business address or the Columbus metro area)
  • In paid search campaigns, use regional keywords such as landmarks and geographic markers (e.g. “lakeside boat rental”, “arena district sushi restaurant”, etc)
  • Schedule your paid search ads to run when people are searching for you. 
    • While efficiently utilizing marketing budget is important, data is more valuable than assumptions. Gather comprehensive data, analyze, and then decide on a paid search schedule.
    • If your business hours are from 8-5 PM, that doesn’t mean that people are only searching for your produce or services during that time period. They may be searching from 10 PM to 2 AM because that’s when they have free time.
    • This scheduling ability, known as day-parting, will come after gathering initial data and then targeting not only hours with the highest traffic, but also the times with the best converting traffic

Any brick-and-mortar business that draws the majority of its customers from a local area should implement an SEO strategy that optimizes their website for local searches as well as tailoring any paid search efforts to include local keywords. This strategy has been proven many times over and will provide the best use of the usually limited marketing resources of a small local business.

Best of luck with your local SEO & paid search strategies!

(The article that inspired this post can be found here)

I’ve met with many small business owners who are passionate about their business and who are looking for every opportunity to grow. I understand how important it is for those owners to make smart, educated decisions when it comes to their marketing dollars. Every business must choose the best avenue for them.

Having said that, a strategic online marketing approach should always be considered.  Online marketing includes:

• Email Marketing
• Search Engine Marketing
  • Pay-Per-Click (Paid Search)
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Display/Banner Advertising
• Affiliate Marketing
• Mobile Advertising
• Social Media Marketing (Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn, etc)
• And Beyond…

Where does SEO rank?

Continue

The other way to interpret this headline might be – Three Google changes that will punish those who fail to embrace change. Sounds a bit harsh, but the reality is that search and being “found” online is all about relevance.  If you can’t be found online quickly, your relevance is going to be severely diminished.

But the rules of how sites get found are changing, and Google is applying new tools to help everyday users find what’s relevant to them. Obviously nobody wants to be on the wrong side of this coin, so let’s take a closer look at what these Google changes mean for your website – and your business.

Blocking undesirable websites

Everyone comes across bad websites while searching. Inappropriate, ineffective, unprofessional, or just not to your liking, there are many ways to define the “undesirable” website. It’s a universal truth that Google wants to improve by allowing people to block websites they don’t find appealing, much like you would “hide” the excessively chatty friend on Facebook or colleague on LinkedIn.
Blocking search results is currently available to individuals with Google accounts, but it’s not likely to end there. Google’s mission is to “organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful” – not just useful to people with Google accounts.

Ultimately, this has real potential to negatively impact individuals and companies that are too aggressive with keywords for SEO purposes. Up until now, casting a wide net was an acceptable yet frowned-upon practice to driving traffic to your site. Now it’s about using only the right keywords to attract only the right people who are actually seeking out your company goods and services. Failure to do so could get you blocked from a lot of potential traffic. As Google gathers data on what sites get blocked a lot, it will certainly become a relevance factor at some point that will impact your search engine ranking.

What’s the takeaway?

- Ensure your website is an accurate, value-added destination for your desired customer base.

- Use keywords appropriately and accurately.

- Ranking for keywords that aren’t super relevant to your company is a “red flag” that, in time, could backfire and actually hurt your search engine rankings

- Candidly ask yourself – could my site be an undesirable website?

“A pretty big algorithmic improvement to our ranking”

Words like these from Google should catch your attention. While Google openly admits tinkering with its algorithms to adjust for new content coming online, an algorithm tweak that impacts nearly 12 of all English language web queries is significant.

So what exactly is Google saying?

Translation:  when it comes to ranking websites, good content is rewarded, bad content is not.

And that begs another question: “what is good content?” Thankfully it is relatively simple answer.

Good content doesn’t imply the content on one site is superior to that from another. Instead it means the content is original – created and frequently updated by site owners. It has the end user in mind. It is less about you and more about your customer and the value (by way of content) that you provide.

Gone are the days when you could convert your static company brochure into a neatly minted website or conveniently recycle the ideas or opinions of others and pass it off as original content.

Through its algorithms, Google is making a conscious effort to reward websites that contain original content – such as research, in-depth reports and thoughtful analysis – with higher rankings. As a result, web users should see more robust content on the web and amenable web managers will be duly rewarded with quality traffic. Whether or not a site’s content is truly good and valuable will remain a visitor’s subjective and personal call.

What’s the takeaway?

Don’t get outranked by your competition. Reassess your web content and determine if it is:

- original and frequently updated; avoid being static

- relying too much on reposting of someone else’s content without original commentary

- thoughtful and relevant regarding your visitors’ needs and questions

- more robust than a promotional piece about who and how great you are

With +1, search gets social and applies

Just like applying a “like” to a friend’s status update on Facebook, now you can get the equivalent of a “like” with +1 approval from people you trust right in your Google search results. It’s this level of simplicity – a simple click of the +1 button if you like the search result – coupled with the recommendations of people both within and outside your social network that makes this relevant with a high potential for success.

As Google suggests in its rollout of +1, this is about relevance. Much like the blocking feature, people need a Google account to take advantage of +1… at least for now. In time, it’s conceivable that +1 data will factor its way into search rankings. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised to see +1 supplement the current value of “links” in determining your search ranking.

All of this is to say that “social relevance” has jumped the tracks to “business relevance” in a new way, and the practices honed in the social forum will have greater impact regarding the visibility of your business website going forward. It also echoes with the consistent message heard in the blocking tool and ranking algorithm:  provide meaningful, relevant content to visitors, or else…

What’s the takeaway?

Revisit your website and scrutinize it like a customer would and ask:

- How relevant are you in comparison to your competition?

- Are you talking to yourself and about yourself, or are you providing meaningful, relevant information to your visitors?

- What would make anyone want to +1 your site?

Final Thoughts

To state the obvious, the web continues to evolve. But recent changes initiated by Google also signal that the website model we’ve all known and embraced is changing.

Staying informed is critical to remaining ahead of the curve. If you want to avoid being blocked, poorly ranked and without the +1s that soon everyone will be seeking to score in the months ahead, heed our advice in the takeaway sections. And if you need our help, remember that we live and breathe this stuff.

I’m ashamed to say it but I’ve been too busy for marketing over the past 1.5 years! With a limited number of hours in each day, I’ve had to spend all my time working on marketing strategies for my client companies instead of my own Adept website.  On  May 1st, I realized that I needed to practice what I preach and take a bit of my own advice. So I decided to do an SEO experiment and make Adept the guinea pig.

We launched the Adept website in November of 2009 and never did any search engine optimization efforts. As of May 1, 2010 we had zero (yes 0) search rankings for marketing related keywords. I decided to set a goal for myself:

“Identify the two keywords with the highest search volume relevant to the Adept business and get to page 1 on all search engine result listings within 2 weeks.”

The first step was identifying the terms I wanted to target. Based on search volume for Columbus, I chose “marketing company Columbus” and “seo company Columbus.”

Then I began to implement a series of proprietary tactics we do very well to drive immediate ranking improvements for our clients. If I told you exactly what they were I’d have to… you know the rest. I’ll give you the high level overview instead.

SEO Strategies Used:

• Optimized key pages within the Adept site for each phrase updating code elements and content.
• Updated title tags on key pages to include targeted keywords.
• Then executed an aggressive and proprietary link building campaign.

Less than 2 weeks later, Adept Marketing is in the top 3 results (mostly #1) on all major search engines for both phrases: “marketing company columbus” and “seo company columbus!”

If you are evaluating SEO Companies in Columbus for your internet marketing needs, I’d suggest you pick the company that can get themselves to the top of the search engines. Plus, they are probably really nice people.

Google - Marketing Company Columbus

Bing - Marketing Company Columbus

Yahoo - Marketing Company Columbus

Google - SEO Company Columbus

Bing - SEO Company Columbus

Yahoo - SEO Company Columbus