A Tribute on Mother’s Day …

Jerry Rice, the greatest receiver in NFL history, got his start catching bricks with his bare hands. Bricks? You see, his father was a brick layer by trade and without funding for fancy equipment, his father to literally throw bricks to his young son sometimes as high as two stories.

Jerry once took his eye off an oncoming brick and when he came to after being struck in the head, his father commanded, “Never, ever, take your eye off the brick.” This carried over into football and Jerry never took his eye off the ball. His father supported him. He attended every game. Threw his son 100 balls after practice rain or shine. Drove him to early morning workouts. All of these sacrifices his father made, it seemed fitting Jerry Rice said, “Hi Mom” to the camera after catching his first TD pass in the NFL.

Let’s face it. When we scraped our knee as kids, who did we run to? Who’s lap did we fall asleep on in church? Who baked us cookies when we had a bad day at school?

Your Mom.

Mothers are safe. Even experts say so. Did you know children are advised if they are lost in a public place to seek out a mother with children and ask her for help? What about a uniformed police officer? No. Mothers are a safer choice than an officer. Bad people can impersonate an officer easily. It would take a person of tremendous talent to impersonate a mother.

Mothers are compassionate and forgiving. How do I know? Just the fact you still exist after all you did to your mother growing up is proof. If I was a lion cub I would have been killed and eaten for the things I did by age 6.

Mothers are protective. She had good intentions when he wrapped you in the bubble wrap your skateboard was shipped in. She just didn’t want you to get hurt.

You know, we all have one thing in common: a mother. So call your mom today and sincerely thank her for bringing you into this world - even if she has past on, thank her. Then do something every week of service to a mother, even if it is just opening the door for a stranger. Because mothers should be honored more than one day a year.

Over at Webmaster World there is a discussion regarding using a dictionary and thesaurus for keyword research. Thus, no need for a computer since those two books are available at any public library.

The point is that many keywords can be discovered that would otherwise be “missed”. An example is the origin of the word, which can be used to further expand the list. While these seems like a good idea, I feel what you will end up getting is an unmanageable list pretty quickly. Using those two books would be better served in helping generate words to use in the copy on the page, instead of generating keywords.

The bottom line is, if you spend hours researching new keywords, you still have to create the content, the offer, the points of difference. And if you create a “monster list” how long is it going to take you to create all the pages for effective conversion? Exactly. Personally, I think we spend too much time in analysis and not enough time actually doing the marketing.

And, the more obvious issue, is just because you find some really cool words in the dictionary related to your product doesn’t actually mean:

a) prospects are using those terms to search;
b) those are do use the terms, actually buy your product.

This isn’t about getting top ranking in the search engines. This is about getting qualified traffic and making sales. You also have to get a positive ROI in the time that you spend. You can literally waste your life away finding keywords where one person will buy a month. I feel that is a big waste of time.

While I have not verified any of this information (as I never used the product that is referenced here), the point isn’t that the story is true or not, but that trust must be deep and you must be sharp.

While attending Webmaster World in Las Vegas in 2006 I finally got to speak uninterrupted to a top affiliate that I had been chasing down the last few years. He shared something that he did, that while extremely unethical, is a strong reminder that trust goes beyond your words. It is verifying the information you are given.

He is an affiliate, a good one. He markets a product that is highly competitive. He wouldn’t tell me which product but that it was on the same level as Viagra in terms of payout and competition.

There was a software application which I will refer to as “PRODUCT A”. Now, “PRODUCT A” was real good at generating a massive number of web pages, including AdSense code, and getting the pages spidered by Google. The result? Lots of five figure AdSense checks for nearly any webmaster who used the software correctly.

Google’s response?

They systematically banned any site using the system (due to a “footprint” code left by PRODUCT A on every page it generated). Because of this sweeping ban, the affiliate and his partners had an idea.

They set up multiple “dummy” SEO companies around the country. Ordered cell phones in the local area and put up web sites.
They then contacted their main competitors and posed as “SEOs” and offered to do SEO on the unsuspecting owner’s site without a setup cost, just a piece of the increase in sales. They shared their research of the market, dazzled them with
analysis, and gained trust by showing areas in the market that had not been exploited. Each major competitor signed on, and
gave them full FTP access.

No background check. No verification on how long they had been in business. No reference check. Nothing.

What did they do with their new found trust? They went into each site and uploaded the “footprint” code from PRODUCT A into
the main pages. It took about a month or so, and one by one, each competitor’s entire site was de-indexed and banned by
Google. As soon as the first site dropped, they shut down their fictitious websites, cancelled the cell phones and just
disappeared.

The result? Even a year after this was done, the competitor’s sites are still banned and the “offenders” are enjoying top listings for their major keyword phrases. The competitors are regulated to using AdWords, and spending thousands per day to keep their businesses running.

His reaction? No remorse. And lots of gloating.

Don’t let this happen to you or your client.

Right now, sit down and make a list of everyone who has FTP access to your servers. Who inside your company and who
outside? Write them down. All of them. If there are individuals that you question their trust, you might be best served restricting their access. State there has been an “elevated threat level” on the server … hey, it works at the airport. If you are the owner of your business, your first responsibility is to the data to ensure it is safe. If your business counts on Google for the bulk of your traffic, you better have full trust of all the people who have access to your server. You don’t want to suffer the fate of those companies mentioned above.

If you do SEO work for clients, call them one by one, and ask them the same. This would also be a good time to remind them of
the business relationship that you have together, the trust, the bond, etc. Thank them for their business and their trust and reemphasize that you will never violate that sacred trust because you value their business. Make an appointment to discuss with them their goals for the next six months so you can make sure the SEO strategy that was put into place months or years ago can fulfill those goals.

Here are other areas you can hit to ensure you are meeting your client’s expectations. If you don’t take clients, look to see if you are meeting these areas too.

Do you prefer to work with Organic Search or Paid Search?

With the massive changes in the way that the SERPs are displayed, if you are an “organic only” shop and you service clients, you could be out of business in the near future. With more paid search results displaying at the top of the results, local results and Google Desktop results, is forcing the organic listings further down the page. Because of this, the demand for top organic listings is dropping quickly based on survey results.

So, ensure that you are offering both services, as doing paid search is really an extension of organic search. Remember, if you have a #1 ranking in the organic listings, it is still a smart plan to also have a listing in the paid results area. Even if the client resists, the test results that I have show that a top listing in the organic area as well as the paid area increases the click through rate AND the conversion rate. The reason is that the “recognizability” of the domain is heightened and trust is built before they even getting to your site. The thought is, “Wow, this company is here multiple times, they must be good.”

Bam. Click and conversion.

Both Google and Yahoo! offer services to “certify” you in their Paid Search programs, which will greatly enhance your trust with your current clients and prospects. Get them.

How extensively do you sharpen your skills as a keyword researcher?

Many SEOs have lost their ability to focus on the RIGHT keyword phrases for their client’s campaigns. Do you first test your
keywords in PPC to ensure they will convert before starting that big organic campaign? If you don’t, you could end up with
a #1 ranking for a keyword that doesn’t convert. The happiness your client has will be short-lived with a worthless #1 listing
when they ask why no one is buying their product.

Focus on the keywords that will drive buyers, not just traffic. You can ask your client what they would prefer: a ton of traffic with a few sales, or average traffic and a lot of sales. It is clear what they want. Make that cash register ring and you will be the “Rainmaker” for your client.

The best way to do this is to spend time each week expanding your skills as a keyword researcher. Scrape the keywords from
competitors, analyze them, use new tools, use old tools in new ways, etc. Shake things up and expand your knowledge. Do you
see a trend here? Most “seasoned” SEOs are “stuck in a rut” when it comes to keyword research and they miss the best
keywords because of it. Don’t let this happen to you.

Do you track conversions at the keyword level?

It is said that 50% of all advertising is wasted. The trouble is, you don’t know which 50% it was. That is until now. With PPC, you can know that information, you just have to track at the keyword level. All that means is inserting a tracking code on the order page, so you know exactly which keywords are driving sales. Knowing this allows you to make key changes to the PPC / organic campaigns or to the landing pages themselves.

For example, if a keyword phrase gets 500 clicks a day, but is only producing 2 sales, that is a keyword that should be dropped. Conversely, a keyword that gets 70 clicks a day and also produces 2 sales is one that should have its campaign aggressively increased. By getting rid of the under performers and pushing hard on the converting keywords, your overall spend may be the same, but your conversions could go up as much as 50%. And that is something your client will smile over.

If your client tells you that their current eCommerce solution does not have the ability to track at the keyword level, tell them they need a new solution or get on the phone with their provider and tell them what they need and why. There is no reason that you can’t track at the keyword level. By not doing this your marketing campaign is just guess work, and that isn’t a smart way to do business.

How are you measuring results?

If you are measuring results based on ranking, you are living in the dark ages. Results are unique visits, returning visits, page views, and sales. Period. These are the results that your client wants to see. Change your approach to one that they can
understand, and they will thank you for it. Here is an example:

“Anna, let me go over the figures for your site last month. Your unique visits increased 13% over the previous month due to
better overall rankings that we achieved for you in Google thanks to those links I suggested that you buy. Your returning
visits increased 27% in part to the autoresponder we helped you install … and your sales increased by 12% over last month
based on our marketing plan and the great job of your staff. Keep it up and we expect more of the same next month.”

Each section you discuss the increase or decrease and the reason for it. If it increases, usually the plan is “stick with what we are doing” whereas if it goes down, state what you propose, and make it clear and easy to understand with any additional costs discussed and agreed to. If there are two options, have them printed on paper - one per page with large type and an action plan for each and let them choose. Honestly, they will love this approach over the “keyword rank report” (which you can still supply if you wish), but you review the real numbers. The numbers that matter to them which is usually the difference between profit and loss. And they will smile each month when they write you your maintenance check.

Do you offer copy writing services?

Good PPC campaigns need good copy writing. I bet there is an English major waiting tables in some local coffee shop that would love to have a job as a writer. Not everyone is a good copywriter, but you never know where you will find the next great writer. A good copywriter is invaluable and your client will love it if you offer this service, but don’t try and do it on your own. Your other parts of your business will greatly suffer.

How much are you focused on link building that matters?

Are you after quantity or quality? Are the links you are getting driving traffic? Are you not focused on paid links because you are nervous about the “Wrath of Google”? Be smart and be focused. Look at the recent article back in January on the new linking strategy and make it a point to focus traffic to your client’s site with links and take PageRank increases as “frosting” on the cake.

Seriously, here is a wake-up call.

SEO has become a game of adding content and getting links. Master the rate, quality and quantity in your industry and your
job will be a breeze. In this rapidly changing industry of Search Engine Optimization, it is the shops that offer full-service to their
clients that seem to be growing, while the “specialized” shops are shrinking.

Focus on Trust. Focus on the Relationship.

Fire the clients who don’t measure up. Raise the bar for clients you will take. And watch your revenues climb while your
stress plummets.

Trust Yourself. Trust Your Judgment. But Change Your Passwords.

Do you remember the fiasco that Brad Fallon went through when his wedding favors site got nailed by the canonical bug in Google back in the fall of ‘06? It was brutal.

Brad lost 50,000 unique visitors a month … or basically half his business overnight. And to top it off, his wife was pregnant with twins. I remember it well because Brad personally called me one night asking for help and you could hear the stress in his voice. I even contacted Matt Cutts, to no avail.

Dan Thies, on the other hand, figured out the problem (damn him), but because it was a bug in Google nothing was going to happen on Google’s end. At least not for awhile. So Dan came up with a plan. The result? Brad’s company recorded their best six months - ever.

His secret? AdWords.

Okay, fine. Not much of a secret, but it goes beyond just AdWords because of the system Dan put into place. It literally saved Brad’s business and it went against everything in the standard “PPC Book”.

Now, this video is from Stompernet, and the opening, well, the opening is one of the best you’ll see. It is little wonder that Andy Jenkins won an Emmy for editing. The content from Dan is excellent. In fact, after watching this video I went and made changes to my AdWords campaigns based on his advice. It’s that good.

Download it (you can do that) and watch it when there are no distractions, because it is 50 minutes long, but well worth it. You can even fast forward the Andy Jenkins segment :-). Seriously, this will be worth your time and he’ll give you takeaways you can apply to your campaigns right now just like I did.

Watch Brad Fallon’s Nightmare Unfold

So let me get this straight. Yahoo! turned down a ton of money from Microsoft and then the next deal they do is one with a company who’s reputation is they kill everything they touch - McAfee. Don’t get me started with how much their “anti-virus” software sucks. But just look what they have done to HackerSafe. I have taken HackerSafe off ALL of my sites. Not only are there so many false positives which makes trying to do business online a headache, but no one knows how to do their job. No one has an answer when you call and it’s the same old song and dance: “We’ll call you back.”

But no one calls.

People in the media are hailing this as a great deal as it will allow for web surfers to be more secure as SearchScan will protect users from malicious sites. Um, wrong. Has no one testing this piece of garbage? I mean seriously. Do you realize that the system is in place to block sites based upon employee opinion? And when that employee’s opinion is biased due to an alliance with another company, well, it no longer becomes a benefit for the surfer, it becomes a political playing field controlled by whoever is feeding the editor of that section?

Yahoo! clearly is sinking fast.

Okay, I gotta say hats off (no pun intended) to Leslie Rohde to fire back at me after I turned him into a White Hat SEO touting Nun (a la Sister Leslie Rohde … soon to be Superior Mother Rohde).

Leslie made this post and well, I can’t say anything more than “he got me.”

Okay, so I have been pulling my hair out over the last few months trying to figure out why certain pages of my sites dropped in ranking and had their PageRank reduced down, down,down and now they sit as “unranked.”

Then yesterday when going through and looking at cache dates from one of my tools I noticed a pattern on a few dozen sites … the default page (index.html) of some sub folders was showing up twice, once with the file name and once with just the folder.

I then discovered on these occurences, I had mistakenly linked to these folders both ways. For example:

http://www.domain.com/product/
http://www.domain.com/product/index.html

The result? Google was indexing both versions of the page, and while the page was a PR4, over 5-6 months is lost all PR, rankings dropped through the floor, traffic was a trickle and revenue just sucked.

I even called a few people who have large sites and they too had the same issue. So, what is the solution? It seems clear to me the solution is the same as the non-www protection - force Google to only see one version, not two.

So get your admin to write a rewrite script to force your default page to serve:

http://www.domain.com/folder/

Instead of:

http://www.domain.com/folder/index.html

You should see the page start to slowly gain status back in about 2-3 weeks.

A Toolbar PageRank update which just hit Google over the last couple of days. I have spent the last three hours analyzing the update and how my test domains faired. It is pretty interesting. Before I get into the results, let’s cover a few things about the update …

The PageRank score is numerical and has an unlimited number of decimal places that it is carried out. So when we see the toolbar showing a PageRank of 5, that can be a range from 4.x - 5.x, depending upon how Google does their “rounding”. The point is, what we see on the toolbar can be very misleading as to what the actual PageRank value is. Also, the PageRank Google shows on the toolbar can be between 1-4 months old, depending on the data Google decides to show publicly. Much like the stock market quotes online that are “delayed 15 minutes”, Google “delays” showing you the PageRank value for months, even though they are computing the live data on a daily basis.

The last public Toolbar was completed around March 4th when the data became stable again. So this was a rather quick update, inside of 60 days as they are usually once a quarter.

Test Domain Results

No site ranked PR4 or above received an increase in PageRank, despite strong link acquisition over the last 60 days.

Site’s which were penalized to a PR0 by submitting to “garbage” directories had their PageRank bounce back to a PR1 or PR2 regardless of what the previous PageRank. For example, one site which was slammed to a PR0 from a PR6 came back to a PR2.

Sites which launched in late February and have had a strong link campaigns still remain at PR0. It seems the data for this public update was pulled sometime in February, but I have not verified this.

Sites which launched last fall and relied on traditional linking methods and press releases all climbed to PR3 in this update. No paid links or paid directories were done to these sites.

Since Google did a slight update on the PageRank of directories a few weeks ago, I’m not seeing any movement in the main or secondary directories.

Okay, what’s up with this? Google is partnering with DomainTools (my favorite WHOIS lookup service) to provide WHOIS lookup info within Google.

You can now query: WHOIS and get the Created and Expired information and a link to the compete WHOIS over at DomainTools. Personally, I think it is a waste as you have to click to get the info, where you don’t with DomainTools, but for the average webmaster, being able to query WHOIS inside of Google is a positive step forward.

Here is how it looks. I did a query: WHOIS webmarketingnow.com

The minimum bids went live with YSM (Yahoo! Search Marketing, Overture, GoTo.com) and I’ve been messing with a bunch of landing pages trying my best to get the minimum bids to be Googlish $10.00 but so far, I’m swinging and missing.

I’ve called quite a few heavy hitters in the Yahoo! space and no one has seen high minimum bids yet. My gut tells me it will be just a matter of time … or maybe Yahoo! is concerned with no one using them and will take anyone as long as their credit card is good.

Could Yahoo! be the MLM of Search? You know, that one neighbor down the street who is building his pyramid scheme with anyone with a pulse and enough on their credit card to buy the “intro pack”. I swear, if one more neighbor of mine says, “Hey Jerry, I have a presentation I have to give at work tomorrow, could you come over and watch me and tell me if it is any good?”

… end slightly off-topic rant …

Wait, let me inject some advice if you are a consultant. Learn how to say “No” to the wrong client and be picky. You will be happier, you’ll make more and you won’t have to check into the nut house after a bad client again skipped out on their bill. Hold out for the good ones, and once you get busy, be like Keith Jennison and simply raise your rates.

Tax Day …. more like “Extension Day” for me. I haven’t filed my taxes on time for nearly a decade. I don’t mind paying taxes, I just wish it wasn’t such a pain. I hate keeping receipts and filling out paperwork.

In semi-good news, it was reported that Slurp, the spider that powers Yahoo!, which they inherited when they bought Inktomi back in early ‘03, has been updated. Now, a year or two again they updated it to Slurp 2.0, but it was just a name change only as the spider still sucked and would be trapped in very basic navigational setup.

They are now claiming that this new version will be a lot better. I can’t wait to give it a test run. First thing is to see if it still gets confused over session ids (SID). Yahoo! is famous for indexing a 500 page site and showing 20,000 pages in their index because they indexed the same page over and over because a different session ID was being served since Slurp doesn’t accept JavaScript or cookies.

If you are cloaking or doing any type of delivery based on IP addresses with Slurp, Yahoo! states they are retiring the IPs and issuing new ones. So, pop open your log files and track down those IP addresses. I highly recommend using IP addresses over using the User-Agent, as a FireFox extension can exploit your cloaking or IP delivery system easily.

I wanted to be the first to break this story. Google is going to announce next week a new policy regarding SEO. Either you practice Pure White Hat SEO methods or you will have your site removed from their index. No ifs ands or buts about it.

“It has gotten to the point where we just have to put our foot down regarding all this Spam and Black Hat techniques,” said Matt Cutts, one of the most well-known engineers by webmasters. “I mean, we’ve given them so many chances to comply, the time is now to end the madness.”

Cutts also stated that he had taken long-time “Black Hat Spammer” Leslie Rohde and converted him to the truth of White Hat SEO. The conversion was so powerful at the GooglePlex that the earth actually shook (reporters said it was an earthquake, but what do they know). Since all the evilness has been purged from Rohde, he is now known as “Sister Leslie”.

“I hope all SEOs will look to Sister Rohde for guidance,” said Cutts. “If not, they will learn a new term, Google Purgatory, from whence there is no return.”

Note: When asked the specifics of the definition of “White Hat SEO” Cutts stated there would be a teleseminar announced which will go over all aspects of the program, as well as integration inside of Google Webmaster Tools. “Just say out of the “fire” area and you should be okay,” concluded Cutts.