CultureFeast » web marketing

Chris Smith Speaks on SEO for Bloggers

Daniel Dessinger — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 18:13:22 +0000

By Daniel Dessinger

March 30, 2008

Christ Smith has just taken the stage. We will begin coverage immediately. Please refresh this page to see more coverage as it unfolds.

Chris Smith specializes in local optimization. He contributes to SearchEngineLand.com and WebProNews.com.

Optimizing Your Blog

Beef up your internal hierarchical linking structure

tag clouds and tag pages (ultimate tagwarrior plugin)
related posts (contextual related posts plugin)
top 10 posts
next & previous posts

Build inbound links

add technorati tags to your posts (claim your blog first)
get onto bloggers' blogrolls
trackbacks and comments won't help with link gain in most cases

Compelling Illustrations make articles interesting. If you post photos to Flickr and link to your blog as a source of the photo, you can get some traffic and rankings from it. Photos need to be visually engaging.

Hop on a PR Feeding Frenzy

hop on it early
say something significant (don't just rehash the same info)
link over to other top blog posts (Google blog search)
watch top stories mentioned by Techmeme and comment on them

Note: I know people who have done this and made money strictly from this.

Research Jeff Crilley for tips on gaining publicity.

Link to your blog from LinkedIn.

Title Tags

put your blog name at the end of the title tag, not the beginning
tag name should go in the title on a tag page
customize with additional keywords for display only on your home page
override title tags with a custom one (SEO Title Tag plugin) (note: his company, NetConcepts, created this plugin)

URLs

Rewrite to contain keywords, using hyphens not underscores
301 redirect from yourblog.com to www.yourblog.com (canonicalization)
maintain legacy URLs even after switching blog platforms

Keyword rich domain names and blog titles are helpful.

Anchor Text

make the post's title a link to the permalink page
internally link back to old, relevant posts within the body of a blog post. use keywords for your anchor text

Header Tags (h1, h2)

category names on category pages
yes for post titles, no for post dates

Sticky Posts

always appear at the top of the page
adhesive plugin

Add author profile page and author links for group blogs

Add nofollows to trackbacks and comments where you don't vouch for a site.

Ping search engines with each new blog post – pingomatic.com, etc

Optimizing Feeds

use full text, not summaries
20 or more items (not just 10)
multiple feeds
keyword rich item
brand name in the item
compelling site description

End of session. I need caffeine.

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Internal Linking Strategies For Blogs

Daniel Dessinger — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 02:41:02 +0000

By Daniel Dessinger

July 22, 2007

Okay, half of my friends and family already checked out because the title involves search engine optimization. That's okay. Those of you willing and brave enough to continue, let's get on with it.

As a search marketer, one of the key strategies I employ in on-site optimization includes internal linking strategy. Here's a quick summary of how it works, from the beginning:

Step 1: Keyword Research

Step 2: META Tag Optimization

Step 3: Content and Header Tag Revisions

Step 4: Internal Linking

Step 5: External Linking

If you want an explanation of these basic concepts, visit any one of a hundred SEO blogs and search for these terms. Or, you can wait for a few weeks and I will begin recovering all the SEO basics on another blog which I will announce soon. For now, I'm only covering Step #4 as it applies to a blog.

The thought occurred to me months ago after I had written a blog post about how my wife loves the affordable women's clothing at Papaya Clothing Store in the Grapevine Mills Mall. Actually, it was also after my most popular post was written on the Papaya Clothing website. That second post, written in April 2007 (only three months ago), received more than 1,000 visitors the first month simply by ranking at the bottom of the first page on Google for "Papaya Clothing". After I saw that jump in my analytics, I decided to test something out. I wrote two more blog posts referencing Papaya and linked back to that second post from each of them. My ranking jumped from #8 or #9 to #2 within a couple weeks.

Granted, many phrases are more competitive and getting solid results take much more work. But the results I saw were phenomenal. I now receive more than 13k visitors per month just reading my few posts about Papaya Clothing. It's ridiculous. Of course, it really helps that the company has taken more than a year to build a website and has only an unlaunched tester site to show for the time and money lost.

My point is that I'd never paid much attention to internal linking within my own blogs. I'm all over the map with my blogging, and it just never occurred to me until then that it could be very useful to use some of the same principles for a blog that I use on static websites. It's the visual blog style that probably kept me from thinking about it. I mean, even when I look at my own home page, I only see the most recent 10 posts or so. Everything prior to that is filed in Archives and fades from view.

Blog categories are an excellent way to keep tabs on what you've written before. Of course, you can always do a site search if you've incorporated search functionality. So here's the easiest way to go about building internal links on your site:

Rule #1 – When writing a new post, search your own blog for references to the same subject or keywords. Copy those specific post URLs and use them in hyperlinks on the new post.

Rule #2 – As an alternative, determine which category your new post falls under and search that category's archives for pages to link to in your new post.

There you have it. Basic. Simple. Link to your own posts. I'll give more specific advice on internal blog linking in the new blog which will be announced soon.

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The Need for Reputation Management Increases Across the Web

Daniel Dessinger — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:36:46 +0000

By Daniel Dessinger

July 17, 2007

As I mentioned previously in ReputationAdvisor.com, the "web 2.0" space (sorry Nathan – I know how much you love that term) has grown and matured to the point that the what is written or posted on the Internet can make or break a company's profitability. Reputation was a priceless commodity back in 1950s small town America. Then cities expanded and companies branched out and a bad rep here or there still allowed for success in other towns or regions.

The consumer had no way to expose a fraud or a bad deal to the masses. Newspapers, books, and radio were the primary methods of communicating to the public. Television obviously took over as the most popular mass media communications method, but the stations were run by the rich minority, leaving the public with little more than gossip and petitions to spread the word of malpractice.

The Internet levels the playing field once and for all. Even the most average person can create a blog or join a forum and post their experiences and opinions of the various businesses they've encountered. We live in an unprecedented age of consumer power. A timely message delivered in the right place online by a single consumer can literally cost a business millions of dollars in sales and reputation repair.

The Internet also allows for corporations to flood the space with positive messages and claims to good intentions and benevolent deeds. Any business willing to dedicate some time and money can seriously spin their online image in any way they see fit.

The Web is the battlefield, and some corporations are just waking up to the realization that cyber slander can destroy their profits. I'm thinking of one small to mid-sized oil and gas company in particular. A disgruntled ex-salesperson posted a slanderous accusation against the company on a very influential investor forum. This forum was already crooked to begin with, since the forum owner propagated false accusations against similar oil and gas companies in order to win the confidence of the seeking investor. The owner would then direct the disillusioned investor toward an "honest" organization which he coincidentally benefited from.

This is a black hat marketing method which earns no respect from me. This forum abuses the power of its influence to slander others in order to keep the spoils. But this oil and gas company now finds itself in a dilemma: what do we do about these horrible things which our ex-employees and competitors are saying about us?

That is the million dollar question (or multi-million dollar, as I've seen businesses drop like flies). Bad online reputation may not end your business, but it can undo years of costly progress.

If you and your business have already suffered loss from bad online reputation, there is no time to wait. Contact a reputation management professional immediately.

If your business is expanding on the Web, now is the time to put a campaign into place that will protect your reputation in the future. Unsatisfied customers are inevitable. You can't please everyone all the time. But you can proactively protect your business from bad press that could cripple your business.

For more information about protecting your good name on the Web, contact me at daniel@culturefeast.com.

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Using Traditional Media to Educate the Masses About Search Marketing

Daniel Dessinger — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:01:05 +0000

By Daniel Dessinger

July 3, 2007

Rand posted an SEOMoz comment this morning, with some illustrations of really underhanded advertising for search marketing. He then asked a question I have asked myself for months:

“So what are we to do, fellow SEOs? After 10 years of attempting to educate the outside world, is it time to give up the game and just accept the fact that SEO will always have negative, inaccurate associations and a shroud of mystery? Or… are there new approaches that could be taken to better inform a clearly curious and often desperate public?”

As influential as Google and Amazon have been in Internet history, they both made an effort to market themselves via television, radio, film, and print. And the core principal at work then is the same now: if you want to educate or influence the masses, reach them where they live.

You can’t educate the masses with an SEO blog. Trust me, I have dozens of friends and acquaintances who use MySpace and visit my blog, but they hate it when I write anything SEO related.

In order to educate the public, you have to entertain them at the same time. Someone needs to spearhead this. Let’s look at the two easiest ways to educate the public:

1. Find a budding movie scriptwriter and write a main character to be an SEO. Without overtly preaching about the industry, teach the public about SEO through the comments and experiences of the character. This is an extremely powerful (and expensive) method.

2. Get the financial backing to create some infomercials. Make them cool (think Mac & PC), funny (Sonic DriveThru commercials), or edgy (TRUTH campaign). Create 5-10 commercials, each that covers one topic or exposes one unethical practice. Let each one air for a month or two before moving on to the next.

Both of these ideas are ridiculously expensive. But how did Amazon brand itself? Traditional media. We should give Amazon a lot of credit for building the Internet user base. Millions of people discovered for the first time that they could purchase items online, and the rest was history. But it took reaching them through the mediums they use most.

Internet use is definitely on the rise. In the future, I expect most Americans with Internet access will have a website of some sort. eBusiness will continue to rise. Search marketing is a vital aspect of eCommerce. It’s unavoidable.

Are commercial spots and movie appearances pipe dreams? Maybe. But someone will do it someday, and they will become instant experts in the minds of millions. If ever there was an open opportunity to make a name for one’s self in search marketing, this is it. Throw a few million at it and watch what happens. Of course, once the rabbit is out of the hat, expect to see the unethical marketers create 30 minute infomercials on late night television promising millions if you create an instant SEO shop or use their services.

There will be abuse of every inspiration. The only way to combat that abuse may be to get enough SEO professionals to band together to support this ad campaign that the space is flooded with support and verification.

Thoughts?

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2 Mistakes Beginners Make When Building A Website

Daniel Dessinger — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 17:04:32 +0000

By Daniel Dessinger

April 21, 2007

Today, we’re talking about online user experience. Granted, this is the type of post that belongs on my Reputation Management blog, so I’ll be brief and expand on it there later. It’s still worth my time to cover these topics here or on MySpace because those are the places where my Internet illiterate friends hang out, and they represent the types of people who will “discover” the amazing opportunities made available by the Web, and without some kind of help they’ll throw up the ugliest or most unusable site you can imagine.

Here are the 2 biggest mistakes people make when designing and developing their first website:

1. FLASH – I don’t care how cool FLASH looks, designing your entire site in FLASH is a HORRIBLE idea. Don’t do it! I don’t care about how cool it looks, it’s a waste of your marketing dollars. Google and Yahoo! will not be able to index your site’s pages, which means you will get crap for search engine results. And in case you didn’t already know, the number one way people locate websites is by searching Google or Yahoo!. You absolutely cannot ignore this fact and must build your site to meet the standards of “crawlable” site.

2. Content Overload – No matter what you’ve seen from circa 1997 web designs, it does not help your website or company to place thousands of words on a single page. It’s a waste. Limit each page of information to 300-400 words. If you have that much more to say on a subject, think a little more strategically and organize your points so you can turn that one massive page into multiple, easy-to-digest pages. On the flip side, it’s equally unhelpful to have next to nothing on each page. If writing isn’t your strength, sub out the work to a professional copywriter (hmmm…. I wonder who?).
In EVERY situation, research what will improve online user experience for your targeted readers. There is tons of information out there to help you do it right the first time. You can always call me if you want to connect with someone offering professional design and SEO.

Once you’ve been around the SEO industry for awhile, you’ll get comfortable with the basic requirements of site design, development, and copywriting. Until then, feel free to shoot me your questions and I’ll be happy to help out.

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How I Became a Copywriter: Part One

Daniel Dessinger — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 14:57:07 +0000

By Daniel Dessinger

April 7, 2007

Since Karen asked in a comment to a previous CultureFeast post, I’m going to give you the story. I worked for two years at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. It was a blessing when it started. It paid more than I had ever made before. I felt very fortunate. Over the months that followed, I grew discontent with the same old routine every day. The office was nice. I had the pleasure of working with more than 140 people during that time, and I enjoyed conversations with many of them. But the work wasn’t my thing, and it felt like a dead end.

My poor wife put up with daily complaining and venting after work. I was so upset because I felt trapped with no way out. After nearly two years, I began to feel hopeless about the future.

A family friend, Matthew Phillips, had graduated from the Art Institute of Dallas and was working as a web designer for an Internet marketing / SEO company in Dallas. We won’t mention the company’s name (but it rhymes with “Munch”) because the CEO turned out to be shady as hell. Everyone else was decent, and they all ended up going their separate ways, joining or forming other Web marketing and SEO companies in the Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex.

Matt knew that I graduated with a BA in English and loved to write, and he kept telling me that I should try copywriting for an SEO firm. He told me it was all fluff anyway, and that I didn’t have to be an expert to get the job done. I was intimidated by the idea, wondering how I could convince someone to take a chance on me, a guy with no professional writing experience.

Matt left that company and joined Reset Media, a small web marketing and media company in Addison. Through Matt, I met Scott Terrell, the creative director.Â He told me about several projects the company was working on that might involve quite a bit of copywriting, but he wanted to test me out on another project first. So Scott, Matt, and I met at a Starbucks in Addison and they pitched me the vision for Reset Media. The goal was to write sales sheets, white papers, and new website copy for the company. I taped the conversation so I wouldn’t miss a thing and brainstormed with them for a couple of hours about the identity and brand Reset Media would put forth.

I drove home excited, feeling for the first time that I was a part of something creative. I labored for several weeks after hours on this project. It didn’t take long to wear out, though. Working 40 hours per week at a soul-draining job and then trying to be creative for a few hours each night was difficult. My wife could see how hard it was on me, and she knew how badly I wanted this internship to work out.

One day, my wife approached me and told me that she thought it was time for me to put in my two week’s notice at Wells Fargo and pursue writing with all my energy and heart. Something inside of me leapt at those words. Something clicked into place, and I was on my way.

I worked side by side with the Reset Media guys for two months and created sales sheets, white papers, and a new website for the company (which they decided not to use – and if you see their site today, it has absolutely no search engine optimization value – not my fault). After two months of working in their office as an intern, the company fell apart. One of the two principles went his own way and half of the staff walked out. I was on my own again, with no job, no internship, and no prospects…

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Brett Tabke Speaks at DFWSEM

Daniel Dessinger — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 15:14:50 +0000

By Daniel Dessinger

October 17, 2006

The weather was absolutely perfect for sitting out on the patio, enjoying pleasant conversation. It was the perfect setting for the evening’s meeting at the Renaissance Hotel in Richardson, Texas. Christine Churchill, of KeyRelevance fame, introduced Brett Tabke to the crowd at the DFW Search Engine Marketing Association meeting yesterday. As most of you know, Brett Tabke is the man behind WebmasterWorld.com, one of the largest web-focused forums on the World Wide Web. He is also responsible for PubCon, the leading conference for sharing information about SEO, SEM, and Webmaster issues. I say “the leading conference for SEO” because, as many of you know, Danny Sullivan is making the keynote address at this year’s PubCon conference in Las Vegas.

Danny Sullivan had been the face behind the Search Engine Strategies Conference (SES) for years, but has recently announced his separation from the SES. Questions about Danny Sullivan and PubCon were no doubt at the forefront of many people’s minds: will Danny align himself with PubCon, thus thrusting it to the forefront of search engine marketing conferences? When asked, all that Brett Tabke could say is that Danny Sullivan has likely been offered positions from multiple conference organizations and has yet to announce any final decision. “He may have something to announce at the conference,” Brett chuckled, “I certainly hope so.”

Brett’s presentation covered the history of his career, exposure to computerized technology, and the issues faced by today’s SEO/SEM forums. He acknowledged a rather significant drop off in new forum memberships over the past six months. In his opinion, the rather significant portion of the American population that had not made the switch to web-based thinking/marketing has now been inoculated. “The SEO/SEM industry has plateaued,” Brett admitted. He went on to admit a level of uncertainty as to what to expect from the next phase of SEO growth. Search Engine Optimization has “matured” to a certain point, he explained, where we no longer need to repeatedly explain META Descriptions and Title Tags to the readership. The readers have asked those questions, learned as much as they can, and are now leveling off at this level of maturity that begs the question: “What do we teach them now?” Certainly, these important questions.

While we in the SEO industry certainly do not know everything, including the actual algorithms of search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask, enough information is already out there on the web that anyone can learn how to optimize a website by spending the time to research and experiment. Brett Tabke’s presentation style is very relaxed, comfortable, and personable. It was refreshing to hear a man of his stature admit to uncertainties and concerns. Those questions are real. Many SEOs have been wondering the same thing. In part, the very truth of those concerns were the motivation behind my article, “Breaking SEO Myths Part One: The SEO Expert.”

There comes a point when a person is attempting to become an expert through link bait articles, countless forum posts, and blog networks. The lack of deeper waters (outside of learning HTML, Pearl, .Net, etc.) is evidence in and of itself that the industry is quickly coming to a point when talking about itself will prove to be only redundant. And before someone begins accusing me of constantly accusing and slandering SEOs, let me be the first to say that I do not wish for a lack of new information. I don’t want to be bored. I don’t want to end up regurgitating the same old thing. I enjoy learning, challenges, and growth. So just know that my comments about the industry are not bitter judgments but rather concerns about myself.

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SEO Myth 1.5

Daniel Dessinger — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:37:40 +0000

By Daniel Dessinger

October 12, 2006

It surprised me to hear that one or two people found and responded to my article, “Breaking SEO Myths Part One: The SEO Expert. You can imagine my surprise when, after ten months of having published this, I suddenly receive several email and blog responses on the topic. I’ve asked a couple non-SEO people to read both my article and the responses so that I could hear unbiased opinions. The majority consensus was that 1) my article was an entertaining read, 2) there were a few small sections I could have written less pointedly (more PC), and 3) there must be some very sensitive or paranoid people working in the industry to respond so strongly.

I wrote this article as a warning to business owners and decision makers everywhere. I wrote it because it should take more than a good sales pitch to win a client. I wrote this because an unregulated industry has no real accountability, and an expert without accountability succeeds on nothing more than his or her ability to make a sales pitch and the client’s blind faith. Am I claiming that all SEO firms and individuals are fakes, phonies, or shysters? No, and I said this in my article. I was not condemning an entire industry when I posted the article ten months ago. It’s when we fail to read each sentence and consider the context carefully that we come to faulty conclusions and poorly considered responses.

Who am I to criticize anyone? Well, fortunately for me, I don’t have to be an expert to criticize self-proclaimed experts (after all, if we followed that horrid logic, none of us would have the right to comment on politics, religion, terrorism, Medicare, education, or criminal justice unless there be a doctor/lawyer/priest/senator/terrorist out there among you). As far as talents, abilities, and interests lie, I am a writer/editor at heart. I love the English language.

As a copywriter, more than half of my clients have been interactive marketing / SEO companies. I have participated in two local interactive marketing / SEO associations, listened to the speakers, read my share of SEO articles, bought and read SEO books, etc. That does not mean I claim to be an expert. It means that I have sufficient exposure to the industry to have developed informed opinions. It’s not that I think the search engine optimization industry is in worse shape than all other industries.

But there are few checks and balances at present. The lack of checks and balances (i.e. regulation) means that no one is unequivocally qualified to claim expert status. Some people out there offer a free list of qualities that they think defines an expert. Of course, we have to trust such a person implicitly to take their word for it. Looks like we’re back to blind faith again.

As I’ve already mentioned, the primary purpose of “Breaking SEO Myths” was to warn potential clients about self-proclaimed search engine optimization experts. The secondary purpose was, if anything, to challenge SEOs to actually do something about the problem. So what is the problem? Well, there are many. I cannot possibly deal with all the problems or solutions in one article or post. Here are the top three problems I see with self-proclaimed expert SEOs:

No regulating agency. Simply put, no existing committee or organization fulfills the role of W3C for the SEO industry. Want a suggestion rather than just a list of problems? Here it is: Form a worldwide committee that functions for SEO like the W3C does for HTML/CSS. Sure, a regulatory committee/organization presents its own set of challenges and difficulties, but so does selecting the right SEO. Obviously, universal standards would be difficult to define in some areas due to the number of ways a task can be accomplished. If coming together to found a regulatory agency is impossible, then each SEO should be a little more humble and willing to admit that their credentials are based upon hearsay or repetition (How many people do I have to pitch, land, and practice open-heart surgery on before I become an expert?).

Because of the lack of a regulatory agency, most SEOs create alliances with other SEOs. They form small committees, organizations, blogs, chat rooms, and conferences. They write as much as they possibly can on the subject of SEO to increase exposure and the perception of authority (after all, if 80 websites post or quote your article, that makes you an expert, right? Oh, right! That’s how Google determines authority, and SEOs just happen to be experts at creating backlinks to improve the perception of authority and importance. How convenient.)

Because of the lack of a regulatory agency, people create service directories of the Top 5 or Top 10 agencies in a given field. This would be extremely helpful if only those directories weren’t offering placement for a price. For example, see topseos.com. Want to be listed in the Top 5 Organic Optimization List? If you’re willing to pay the price, you can be listed #1. They say that they will call three of your clients to ensure the quality of your work, but history has not proven this to be true. Doesn’t lend much credibility, does it? Not only does this reflect poorly on the people who created the site directory, but it reflects poorly on the companies paying to be listed as experts. Do you honestly think that a business owner is going to realize he or she is looking at paid placement advertising? It is one thing to list sponsors. It’s an entirely different thing to rank companies so as to show preference and recommendation. Websites like these are a far cry from the Better Business Bureau of SEO.

There you have it. I am not challenging the statement that many SEO companies are offering useful and helpful services to their clients. As they say, at the end of the day there are still only ten spots on the first page of each major search engine. There are certainly challenges to face, and many of which are unique to the client.

I recently accepted an SEO position at a local Dallas interactive agency. I met the president of the company in 2005 and worked on several projects for the agency over the past year. Taking someone at their word simply isn’t playing it smart, unless you have a strong relationship with someone who can vouch for them. Then again, if you have that benefit, this article isn’t meant for you anyway.

Some of the responses to my article indicate that there are more than a few SEOs out there who feel uncertain about their own right to claim expert status. The irony is amusing. And before another person reads this and gets all huffy, you can rest assured that I have never called myself an SEO expert. I work for a company that offers professional services.

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SEO and The Great Conversation

Daniel Dessinger — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 02:02:24 +0000

By Daniel Dessinger

October 10, 2006

Some days I wonder how I get from point A to point B without tripping over my own feet. Other days it seems the world is my oyster. Then there are days when I’d rather be a cat… don’t ask. This, however, is not one of those days. What does that mean exactly? I honestly don’t know. But wouldn’t it be cool if I was a cat!?!?!

I’d like to thank each and every one of the people who have taken the time to send me an email these past two days. I am more than a little surprised at the response I’ve gotten for an article I wrote more than six months ago. I want to reassure you that I will be writing a response to Randfish’s blog post on SEOmoz. After reading through his post and many of the other people’s responses, I need a day or so to consider all of the suggestions and opinions.

Contrary to now popular belief, I prefer not to go shooting off at the mouth (or the blog) simply because someone else has something to say about my writing. I am reminded of The Great Conversation as taught by Dr. Davey Naugle of the former Pew College Society at DBU. He invited us to join into The Great Conversation by reading books written by some of the greatest minds of human history. He challenged us engage with the thoughts, ideas, and postulations of brilliant philosophers, novelists, poets, astronomers, playwrights, and scientists. We would borrow their thoughts, try them on for size, and keep the ones that fit.

While blogs are a far cry from The Great Conversation, they are yet an opportunity for us to engage each other on topics large and small, allowing even the most socially challenged to stand up and proclaim their heartfelt convictions and beliefs and, yes, even criticisms. I welcome you all to discuss what weighs heavily on your minds, whether it be the true standing of Search Engine Optimization in American/Global economics or the need for a faster and younger quarterback on the Dallas Cowboys (did I bias that one already? shoot!). Intelligent conversation is always welcome.

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Daniel Dessinger Joins VIZION Interactive

Daniel Dessinger — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 00:30:21 +0000

By Daniel Dessinger

October 9, 2006

I decided to go against tradition and stick with a blog post rather than an interactive press release. It’s official: Monday, October 2nd was my first day at Vizion Interactive, Inc. It’s an exciting move – one full of possibilities. I’ve worked with the president of the company on several projects over the past year. Recently, he called me up and offered me a full-time position – something we had discussed at length back in January yet never acted on.

After the crucial discussion with my wife (I’m no fool), I accepted the position. I know that some people will think it ironic that I joined an interactive marketing company that specializes in SEO. I think it’s kind of ironic too. Quite a few SEO “experts” have left quite a bad taste in my mouth, but contrary to popular opinion, I don’t hold that against everyone in the profession.

I am a writer at heart, and so I prefer to write creatively as the “juices” flow. That’s great and all, but there are many other tasks to be accomplished in the interactive marketing space and I respect them for their level of difficulty and sheer necessity. With that said, I would like to thank the team for the warm welcome. I look forward to contributing where I can and learning quite a bit at the same time. The team is earning new and repeat business left and right, and it’s exciting to be on the team!

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SEO Tips Part One

Daniel Dessinger — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 22:45:26 +0000

By Daniel Dessinger

April 21, 2006

Search Engine Optimization is a ballooning industry. There's no doubt about that. Every business needs to ensure that their website and other online marketing efforts function as effectively as possible. So many entrepreneurs have seen visions of the tidal wave of money to be made in the industry, and they jumped right in although they can barely dog-paddle. You can learn the same basic info that most SEO firms will tell you just by searching for "SEO tips" on Google.

Many of them are afraid to let you know that because they want to be viewed as professionals with insider information that can only be gained through years of experience. The only time that seems to be actually true is when using PERL script or other back end programming and development. Obviously, a programmer has skills that not everyone has. But SEO principles are not specialized, and they do not require someone with five or more years of experience to understand. Having said that, you are more than likely better off hiring an SEO firm to do the work for you. No, I'm not sending mixed signals here. You need to be aware of the smooth talk and the BS some of them will use to impress you, but you probably still need someone's help to do the actual work. That is, unless you are willing to hire someone on full-time to do it for you.

After many conversations with many "experts", I have noticed two vital tools missing from nearly everyone's approach. If I may be blunt, they are missing because the SEO firms aren't true marketing firms and are too young to understand how to truly win long-term repeat business. TWO THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW TO SUCCEED WITH SEO There are two things you need to know to succeed: you must know the customer and you must know the search engines.

You cannot complete a successful SEO campaign if you have not taken the time to know your target audience. It is sickening how many companies spout cliches like "find your target audience" without actually helping you find them. What might be even worse is that SEO experts have all read or spoken about the importance of inbound links for good rankings, yet so many of them never incorporate linking strategies for their clients.

A successful marketing company researches the client's target audience until they know who they are, what they want, how they speak, and what they respond to. If your SEO service provider doesn't know that much detail about your customers, how do they know which keywords your customers will use to search with on Google or Yahoo? Exactly – they don't. Sure, keyword research tools exist to provide a list of related phrases which are extremely popular, but are they the phrases people will use when looking to buy? It's more involved than simply pressing a few buttons and letting a computer program shoot out some answers.

Why are these crucial elements missing? Because SEO firms don't believe you will spend the money to do a search engine optimization campaign the right way. Because most of their clients know very little about SEO, the firms cut out necessary elements to lower the price and gain clients.

THE COST OF NEGLECT
The unfortunate side effect is a half-brained campaign. No matter what they have done, Google will continue to shun your website as an authority because you lack the appropriate inbound links. To add to your future frustration, you will eventually realize that even though your traffic has increased even significantly, your conversion rate has not increased at the same rate. This is, of course, due to the fact that although your SEO firm drew more people to your site, they were not the right people.

The truth is that 98% of the time you get what you pay for. If you are large enough to pay for conventional marketing and advertising, you probably don't skimp on the details. SEO is still a relatively new industry and the experts are still relatively insecure about their status. They may be willing to compromise to land a client. You do not want this. Why spend any money at all for the wrong thing or a poor quality thing? You might as well save your money or spend it elsewhere.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. Somebody famous said that. They were right. Don't waste your time or money on a half-hearted service. Ask questions. Get involved. Insist on well-laid plans and ideas, just like you would for a commercial spot during the Super Bowl. Everyone wants results yesterday, and almost no one wants to wait. But quality comes from thorough research and planning. Don't compromise the quality of your business.Daniel Dessinger provides writing services including: SEO, interactive press releases, website copy, articles, creative ads, copy editing, and consulting. Visit him on the web at http://www.culturefeast.com.

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My First Visit to the DFWSEM

Daniel Dessinger — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 15:35:13 +0000

By Daniel Dessinger

December 25, 2005

I had the pleasure of attending a DFWSEM meeting in December. For those not in the know, that stands for Dallas / Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association. It was a cozy group of 15 to 20 people from almost as many different local companies. It was a great opportunity for me to meet new people in the interactive marketing and search engine optimization industry.

Since my decision to stick with copywriting, I’ve really enjoyed those SEO types much more. They do the keyword research and analytics while I get to use my talents based on the words they select. It’s a win/win for me.

Anyhow, while some may snub their noses at a smaller professional organization, I give them kudos! The atmosphere was very personable. I warmed up to several people much quicker than I would have if I was drowning in masses of scheming businessmen and women. These people (including the founders of the organization) were very friendly and more than willing to offer advice and help. Granted, some of their willingness to help may stem from the fact that I, as a copywriter, am not direct competition. On the contrary, I am a potential tool in their SEO arsenal. I am told that most search engine marketing firms are limited in growth potential because they have limited copywriting resources.

Well, if that be the case, here I am! I am willing and able to ease the burden. That is the beauty of specialization. By focusing strictly on writing and not SEO research, I can perform at faster speeds while maintaining a very high standard of copy quality. Web copywriting is a blast! I love it. Press release writing is just as enjoyable.

I have high expectations for this group of Search Engine Marketers. They run successful businesses and I look forward to working with many of them very soon.

More to come on The DFWSEM.

If you are looking for a search engine optimization organization in north Texas, visit them on the web at http://www.dfwsem.org. And tell them I sent you.

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