Jed's Blog

Seth Godin, one of my marketing heroes, wrote a book called “The Dip” which offers some wonderful insights into the question of when to quit and when to stick with any given endeavor. One of his premises is that you should immediately quit something and move on unless you have the chance to become the “best in the world” at that thing.

Of course, this is a heavy statement for most people at first take, since only a select few of we humans are truly the best in the world at any given thing. But, Godin goes on to elaborate: his definition of the “world” does not really mean the entire planet – or industry in which you compete, as the case may be. For him, the “world” means the sphere of influence in which we have chosen to operate. So, if you sell cheeseburgers in Milwaukee and they are pretty darn good burgers relative to those of your competitors, you may well be in the running to have the best cheeseburgers in the world.

With his assertion, Godin brings to light a powerful concept which you can turn into a reality for yourself with through good SEO. In the world of the Internet, you are at the top of your game – the “best in the world” – when you can get people to find your website through achieving top search rankings. If you come up at the top of Yahoo! or Google for a keyword that is relevant to your industry, product or service, you are in fact  “the best in the world.” Congratulations!

We are told in “The Dip” to stick it out through the hard times when it seems that we will never become “best in the world” – provided that we have set realistic goals for ourselves. In SEO-speak, this thinking translates to the following: choose keywords for which to optimize your site for which you have a reasonable chance of actually reaching a number one (or at least page one) ranking. If you have chosen well, then don’t quit until you win.

However, if you never took the time to do the proper analysis as to which keywords to choose to optimize your website and are now frustrated at your lack of SEO progress after much labor and many hours spent, you likely chose poorly. In that case, you should quit now – right now. Then, start over by: doing the work (the analysis), choosing the right keywords, and continue driving hard until you appear on the first page. That’s how to be “the best in the world.”

Meta tags are data that work “behind the scenes” on your website but that most human eyes never see. There are many varieties of meta tags, but the most important ones in terms of search engine optimization are meta keyword, description, title, and image tags. Making sure that each page of your site has these meta tags – and that they are properly optimized by including the right words – has long been one of the mantras of webmasters and SEO gurus. But, do meta tags really matter?

Yes, meta tags do matter. However, they fall into the category that I refer to as “necessary-but-not-sufficient” for good SEO. In other words: yes, it is essential that each page of your site feature ample and relevant meta tags. And, yes, these tags need to be carefully compiled such that they are in alignment with the branding objectives and product/service offerings of your site. That said, having appropriate meta tags in your site’s code does not mean your site will suddenly rocket to the top of the search rankings.

I bring this up because, in my experience, people tend to have extreme views on the importance of meta tags: they either see them as one of the top 5 things they can do to improve their rankings or they believe that worrying about meta tags is so “1998″ (i.e., outdated) that they hardly warrant any attention – thus completely leaving them off of their websites altogether. Both views are out of touch with reality.

My advice on meta tags: spend some time creating the right meta tags for your site and inserting them into your code. Then, re-evaluate them every 3-6 months to make sure they remain a good fit for your site.  In the meantime, get to work on more dynamic and effective means of driving traffic to your site.

Short on SEO resources? Take a guerrilla marketing approach to SEO, including these 10 tips:

1. Add descriptive keyword, description, and title meta data to your HTML code

2. Submit your URL for free directly to top search engines like Google (http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl), Yahoo! (http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/submit), and MSN (http://search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx)

3. Announce your new site to business associates and friends (but be selective – and be sure to use your e-mail client’s bcc feature to avoid sharing your recipients’ e-mail addresses with the other recipients on your list) via e-mail

4. Feature your URL on the personal page of one or more social network service sites (e,.g., MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo).

5. Submit a site map to sites like Google (www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/) or Yahoo! (http://submit.search.yahoo.com/free/request), as well as many second and third-tier providers.

6. Request that other sites link to yours. If you do this, be sure to give the Webmaster of each site a clear, succinct reason why it would be beneficial and wise to link to your site. In other words: motivate them to care about your site.

7. Create downloadable white papers or other useful, easy-to-read information and post it for your site. By placing compelling, interesting content on your site, others will be more likely to link to you and to visit you often.

8. Make sure that your content is optimized for the keywords that relate to your products, services and/or theme of your site. For example, the most important keywords should appear in section headers and/or nearer to the top of the page. They should also appear more frequently than the other text on the page.

9. Create podcasts and videos, and include or mention the URL to your site. Then, post on YouTube (www.youtube.com), SoundLantern (www.soundlantern.com) and other sites. This is a great way to get free publicity and traffic to your site.

10. Write an article about the theme or general topic area of (but not specifically about) your website. Add a link to your site in the “by-line” and post it to free article syndication sites who make it available to thousands of others who are always hungry for fresh new content. A great place to start is eZine Articles (www.ezinearticles.com).

On a recent Sunday morning I had the unique pleasure of touring my home city of Austin, Texas on a Segway motorized vehicle with my visiting father and some other tourists. Besides the fun of riding this new machine which I have for years wanted to try, participating in the tour reminded me of the uniqueness of the city of Austin and why it is not quite like anyplace else.

As an Internet marketer, I could not help but link certain aspects of this new-found appreciation for my city with what I believe are some key insights about how my clients can better connect with customers online:

Insight #1: Project your own style:

Austin represents an eclectic mix of conservative Texas tradition, successful young professionals, and a postmodern hippy culture of artists and bohemians. If you look closely, you will see on every 50th car or so bumper stickers that say “Keep Austin Weird,” representing a quiet rallying cry of support for Austin’s unique brand of quirkiness. Similarly, your Web site needs to project who and what you are. Your goal should NOT be to attract hordes of prospects to your site. Your goal should be to attract a steady stream of prospects who have a high probability of converting into paying customers.

Insight #2: Shake things up once in a while:

A visit to many parts of downtown Austin indicates that the city is currently in the throes of change. Huge construction projects are underway to build the necessary residential and business infrastructure to accommodate shifting demographics. The city planners have clearly decided to be proactive about just how they grow. The alternative, of course, is stagnation. In the world of Web traffic, this insight calls for you to revisit your site on a regular basis. Add some RSS feeds. Change your skins. Start a blog and update it regularly

Insight #3: Be innovative:

On my tour I learned that the city of Austin employs am innovative car share program whose goal is to reduce downtown traffic and pollution while assisting residents to get around. The program has a number of designated parking spaces around the city for a handful of cars that can be rented by the hour. If a downtown resident has a doctor’s appointment or other transportation need, they just show up to the car at the right time and off they go. Very cool! So (you guessed it), your Web site needs to be similarly innovative. Being innovative does not mean reinventing the (mouse) wheel: it just means doing something that you have not tried before that could make a positive difference in the lives of your visitors.

Insight #4: Proactively drive traffic to your site:

As neat a city as Austin is, in the early ’90s the city’s tourism board was smart enough to know that they needed to get the word out about Austin. So, in 1991 they invented the slogan “The Live Music Capital of the World” to boast that they actually had more live music venues per capita than even New York City or Nashville. By the same token, your Web site can be the best site in the world, but if you do not actively try to drive traffic to your site you are missing out on a huge opportunity. Avoid succumbing to the “Build it and they will come” myth.

Insight #5: Know your audience:

Austin has a clear vision of itself in 10 or 20 years from now. There are numerous projects underway to attract successful, young professionals to the city with innovative developments that put an emphasis on walking and accessibility rather than on automobiles. Similarly, everything you do to drive traffic to your Web site needs to have your target audience in mind. How do they think? What is important to them? Know this and you will attract the customers you need.

Creating fresh, compelling content to post on your website is one of the foundations of good SEO practice. However, creating content is also a huge sticking point for most people in charge of their site’s SEO initiatives. Reason: creating content is very time-consuming, and writer’s block plagues even the most creative among us. So, what to do when you are in need of fresh content but don’t feel the urge to write?

Answer: re-use some of the content that you or your organization have created in the past! By changing your perspective a bit in terms of what qualifies as “good content,” chances are you will find that you already have a treasure trove of existing content you can use on your website.

It is likely that some of the re-usable content you already have is ready to go as-is, with little or no modification required. However, you may also find a lot of content* in other places that can be used on your website if you are willing to make a few modifications to format and do a little bit of editing.

Here are some ideas for where to look for this buried treasure of good, re-usable content:

Content to Re-use more or less “as is” (with little or no modification required):

• Product brochures
• White papers
• Articles
• Research reports
• Off-site blog entries

Content to Re-purpose (with some editing of format, sentence structure, etc.)

• Explanatory e-mails to co-workers or customers about your products or services
• PowerPoint slides for recent presentations
• Transcribed video or podcast content
• Customer tools and worksheets
• Web content from some of your other, related websites

Hint: be selective when re-purposing content. The act of re-purposing is not meant to replace the effort you would otherwise expend in creating completely-original content. Rather, it is a great option for finding viable sources to satisfy your need for fresh content when your creative well has temporarily run dry – or when you have made something in the past that is so good it deserves to be used again!

*note: I am talking in this post about using content to which you already have publication rights – not about content created by people or organizations to whose content you do not have rights. While there are many ethical and advisable ways to re-use other people’s content (with their explicit or implied permission), currently I am talking solely about the content created by you or your own organization!

Here’s a special treat for my regular blog readers: a podcast interview I recently completed on the topic of landing page optimization. For your listening pleasure!

The interview was conducted by Kimberly Friddle, President and Founder of KF Communications (www.kimberlyfriddle.com). It is divided into three parts:

Part A:

Part B:

Part C:

During challenging economic times, charities can be hit especially hard. As regular donors tighten their monetary belts, their budget for making donations to charities may be cut significantly. During times like these, charities with websites often search for more ways to gain mindshare among new, would-be donors. Enter search engine optimization (SEO). By employing simple, straightforward techniques, even charities who are strapped for cash can take actions to boost their sites’ rankings for desirable keywords on top search engines like Google and Yahoo!. And, of course top rankings means better visibility and improved mindshare.

Here are 5 SEO tips for charities:

1. Determine the keywords for which you would like your website to rank well:

Most would-be donors are generally not going to be searching the Internet for keywords that include the name of your organization. Even if they are, those are not the people whom you want to target for your SEO activities: you can safely presume that they will be able to find you if they are looking for you. No, rather it is those more generic keywords that relate to your organization’s mission and goals for which you want your site to be ranking well. For example, an animal rescue charity may want to rank well for keywords such as “dog rescue,” “cat neutring,” or “dog pound.” So, start your SEO efforts by creating a list of your most desirable keywords.

2. Review your website for content optimization opportunities:

80% of good SEO involves a combination of the following two straightforward, no-frills practices:

a. getting other, high-quality sites to link to your site

b. having keyword-optimized content on your website

(note: the final 20% is the bag of tricks and techniques that seasoned Internet marketers learn over time).

And really, both of these practices boil down to one thing: good, relevant, keyword-optimized content. So, take a look at your current site and make sure you have keyword-optimized content – and lots of it!

3. Request backlinks directly from other sites:

Ask any hard-working Webmaster conducting SEO on a regular basis: building backlinks to one’s site is no trivial task. However, charities have a unique advantage over for-profit organizations such as companies in this department due to the fact that the former are presumably out to explictly perform some public service: a benefit to society, people, the environment or the world-at-large. In other words: they are often what people term “do-gooders.” And, for some unwritten reason, do-gooders can stand up tall and – with little justification or explanation – boldly request a backlink without flenching or hesitating. And, provided you are contacting the right kinds of sites, you have a better chance of your request being honored! Still, even though it is a simpler task for charities to request backlinks, your site still needs to feature compelling content on it if you want people to respond positively. Which brings us to our next point.

4. Build fresh, new content for your site regularly:

Search engines love fresh content. They eat it up, in fact. They are hungry for it and are always looking for it. For your site to get noticed by search engines, you need to update it regularly with new, interesting, keyword-optimized content. Create a blog. Write articles. Publish a regular newsletter. Post white papers about your organization. Host an online forum wherein people can discuss issues important to your organization. Remember, the lifeblood of your site is content, content, content. Never forget that and you will always be on the right track.

5. Be the expert:

There are sites on the Internet called expert sites where people post questions in hopes of getting answers from (self-proclaimed) experts. And, people in fact do post answers. Why? Not only to help others or to be in fact recognized as an expert; they also do it to build backlinks to their sites. A good place to start is LinkedIn Answers (http://www.linkedin.com/answers), but there are many other good ones, as well.

If you are interested in garnering more attention for your charity during challenging economic times like these, consider putting more effort into promoting your website to search engines. It is a smart way to gain better visibility and potentially increase donations. And the time and effort you spent now, if spent wisely, will pay off for months or years to come.

Technorati Profile

Building backlinks is merely the process of finding ways to entice other Web sites to link to your Web site. The more quality backlinks that you have pointing to your site (along with a number of other factors that search engines take into account), the more favorably search engines will rank your site.

The most desirable backlinks pointing to your site are those that come from referring sites that:

1. are contextually-relevant to your site (both in terms of the extent to which the content on those referring sites is in alignment with the content on your site and in terms of the keywords embedded in the links themselves)

2. are high-profile sites according to the indexing search engine (e.g., have a respectable Google PageRank, have a large number of backlinks referring in turn to those sites, etc.)

So, how do you build more backlinks to your site for improved search rankings?  Here is the Golden Rule for Building Backlinks:

Create a site that adds value to a well-defined segment of would-be site visitors

This is a deceptively simple rule, but nevertheless it holds true. But, it makes sense, right? To see why, put yourself in the shoes of the Webmaster receiving your request add a backlink to your site. Provided that they are inclined to offer backlinks to other people’s sites anyway (and that they are in a good mood, you are asking nicely, etc.), the first thing they will want to know is whether this would, indeed, be worth doing. In other words, they have to ask themselves: “Will adding a link to this site add value to the users of my site, or will it just seem like I am stuffing my site with useless links?”

Okay, so hopefully we agree that building backlinks successfully is all about value of your site (okay, and it’s also a bit about how you ask!). The question for you then becomes: how do I create a valuable site that people would actually want to link to? Well, that is the $20,000 question because there is no single right answer; it depends upon a number of factors. But, here are some hints to get you on the right track. To be perceived as a valueable site, the site you are requesting backlinks to must perceive your site in one or more of the following ways:

1. it is relevant to the their site in terms of content, theme, etc

2. it offers lots of fresh, original, value-added content

3. it has a high utility value in terms of useful tools like online calculators, searchable reference information, relevant industry information, etc.

4. it looks really, really cool (but without overdoing it or being “too much”)

5. it describes products or services that their own users might benefit from

So, if you want to get Webmasters of other sites to agree to link their sites to yours, focus all of your efforts on building a value-added user experience for some well-defined target segment. In other words, give those Webmasters a very good reason to say, “Yes!”

In an ideal world, there is probably one action that you really, really wish qualified visitors to your site would take every time they pay you a visit. Depending upon your line of business, this most desirable user action could be:

• Buy your most lucrative product or service
• Download a white paper
• Watch a product video
• Contact you via your Web form or toll-free phone number
• Subscribe to your monthly newsletter

(You get the picture).

Once you have determined what this most desirable user action is, it is important to come to terms with what would be your ideal user path. But, first, what is a user path? A user path is merely the set of steps or actions – taken in a particular order – that any given user actually takes as they scroll and click their merry way through your site.

The ideal user path, then, is merely the path that they should ideally take if they are to have the highest probability of actually taking the most desirable user action you have determined. As not only an interactive marketing specialist but also as a branding consultant, my personal definition of user path is a bit wider than the traditional one. My definition of user path includes not only the physical actions that the user takes (most or all of which are trackable using your server log statistics or analytics application), but also the places on your page(s) that your users are likely looking as their eyes dart around on the page. In this sense, the ideal user path would include all of the actions (both trackable and not-trackable) that a user should take if they are to have the best chances of getting from Point A (initially landing on your site) to Point B (your most desirable action).

Upon reading this, initially the most ideal user path for your site probably looks something like this:

Step 1: User lands on my site

Step 2: Clicks “Order Now”

Step 3: Buys everything on my site and sends me lots of money

Unfortunately, things are not that simple in the case of 99.9% of the sites out there. Rather, you need to gently but firmly lead the your site visitors through a series of logical, clear steps that tell a story about your products and services – and about the value you offer. Specifically, the story should: highlight whom your site is targeting, point out a problem they have that you can solve, build trust & credibility, give them just enough product or service information to keep their attention, present to them your compelling value proposition, and present a clear call to action to get them to take your most desirable user action. Once you have outlined these items and made them a reality on your site, mapping your ideal user path should be pretty straightforward.

To recap, then, to determine your ideal user path:

1. First, determine the most desirable user action in the case of your site

2. Make sure your site tells the right story

3. Map out which specific steps or actions, in order, that you want the user to take in order to come to a place where they answer your call to action (i.e., taking your most desirable user action)

Once you know the ideal user path for your site, you will be informed enough to continue to fine-tune your site to make that path as clear, compelling, and friction-free as possible. All of your hard work will pay off in better conversion rates and more satisfied users.

At the bare minimum, the home page or landing page of your website needs to communicate to your visitors within the first 10 seconds of landing there the following two messages:

1. precisely what the value is that you are offering (i.e., what is the nature of your product or service)

and

2. specifically to whom (to what type of individual or organization) you are offering that value

Every week I visit countless websites – run by everything from Fortune 500 corporations to small businesses alike – that assume (wrongly) that 100% of the visitors to their site already know the answers to these two questions and that these questions are therefore not worth addressing at all. Call it hubris, call it failing to question one’s assumptions, or even call it stupidity: many companies make this mistake every day and it is costing them money.

The take-away: if you are a bank, say right there at the top of the page “We are a bank” if you have to. Sure, find the most elegant way to communicate who you are and whom you target. But, if you can’t decide between elegance and the obvious, error on the side of the obvious. These days, people have become jaded by clever slogans and marketing tactics. Especially on the Internet, attention spans are short. So, don’t beat around the bush: tell your visitors the “what” and the “whom” and you will have already won a battle that a whole slew of your competitors are losing every day in cyberspace.