Stoney deGeyter covered this topic recently. He approached it from the perspective of building a mental image of visitor personas. You form a persona based on a visitor’s motivation. What do they need? Why are they on your website? Once you can answer those questions, you can think about what kind of content will help your visitors, and create it accordingly. I don’t disagree with deGeyter, but I like to think more in terms of goals. If you really want to try to think like one of your customers, don’t just ask yourself what they need; ask yourself what they’re trying to accomplish. If your w…
On May 7, 2012, In SEO, by SEO Chat - Search Engine Optimization Tutorials
How do your website’s visitors spend their time online? That can vary not only from person to person, but at different times with the same person. Why? Users pursue a variety of different goals. If you keep this in mind, you can write effective content to optimize your site for the most likely goals.
On May 3, 2012, In SEO, by SEO Chat - Search Engine Optimization Tutorials
You know all the benefits that writing a guest post for a well-read blog in your niche can offer. You know you can write great content because you’re an expert in your field. But how do you get into guest blogging? Let me give you a few clues from the blog editor’s perspective.
I’d like to tip my hat to two people here. The first one is Matt Goffrey. He’s written articles for SEO Chat for the last quarter, and he’s done just about everything a guest poster should do. The second one is Matt Beswick. He wrote a piece for Search Engine Journal on how to cheat at guest posting and get away with it. Some of the tips I’ll be including here I got from his article – but I’ll be talking about them from the other side of the desk. So let’s assume, for the moment, that you’re an expert in your field, and you want to find someone – or many someones – who will appreciate that ex…
On May 3, 2012, In SEO, by SEO Chat - Search Engine Optimization Tutorials
You know all the benefits that writing a guest post for a well-read blog in your niche can offer. You know you can write great content because you’re an expert in your field. But how do you get into guest blogging? Let me give you a few clues from the blog editor’s perspective.
I’d like to tip my hat to two people here. The first one is Matt Goffrey. He’s written articles for SEO Chat for the last quarter, and he’s done just about everything a guest poster should do. The second one is Matt Beswick. He wrote a piece for Search Engine Journal on how to cheat at guest posting and get away with it. Some of the tips I’ll be including here I got from his article – but I’ll be talking about them from the other side of the desk. So let’s assume, for the moment, that you’re an expert in your field, and you want to find someone – or many someones – who will appreciate that ex…
On May 1, 2012, In SEO, by SEO Chat - Search Engine Optimization Tutorials
I very nearly titled this article “The Truth About Keywords in Title Tags.” I didn’t because I’m no longer sure that anyone has all of it. If you’re ready to rethink one of the most basic things you’ve ever learned about SEO, and stop simply reacting to Google, keep reading.
First, let me give credit where it’s due. I just finished reading a post by Michael Martinez in which he digs more deeply into this so-called basic topic than anyone I’ve seen. Martinez’s contrarian views, eloquently expressed and supported, can make any reader rethink a cherished position. If he’s right, then the way most of us do our page titles or title tags is – well, not wrong, exactly, but a little misguided. We all know how you’re supposed to write title tags, right? Start by doing some keyword research for your topic, build a title using those keywords, then lather, rinse, repeat. Make…
On May 1, 2012, In SEO, by SEO Chat - Search Engine Optimization Tutorials
I very nearly titled this article “The Truth About Keywords in Title Tags.” I didn’t because I’m no longer sure that anyone has all of it. If you’re ready to rethink one of the most basic things you’ve ever learned about SEO, and stop simply reacting to Google, keep reading.
First, let me give credit where it’s due. I just finished reading a post by Michael Martinez in which he digs more deeply into this so-called basic topic than anyone I’ve seen. Martinez’s contrarian views, eloquently expressed and supported, can make any reader rethink a cherished position. If he’s right, then the way most of us do our page titles or title tags is – well, not wrong, exactly, but a little misguided. We all know how you’re supposed to write title tags, right? Start by doing some keyword research for your topic, build a title using those keywords, then lather, rinse, repeat. Make…
On April 30, 2012, In SEO, by SEO Chat - Search Engine Optimization Tutorials
Early last week, Google began using a new algorithm to help it combat webspam from black hat SEOs. Dubbed Penguin, it aims to eliminate from the search engine’s listings websites that engage in certain shady practices. But how well does it work?
Google webspam guru Matt Cutts explained the rationale behind Penguin in a post on the Google Webmaster Central blog. He noted that We see all sorts of webspam techniques every day, from keyword stuffing to link schemes that attempt to propel sites higher in rankings. Penguin represents another improvement in our efforts to reduce webspam and promote high quality content. It’s supposed to decrease the rankings of sites that violate Google’s terms of service. Cutts gave two examples of websites whose ranks he expected to see drop after Penguin. One displayed egregious keyword stuffing. The …
On April 30, 2012, In SEO, by SEO Chat - Search Engine Optimization Tutorials
Early last week, Google began using a new algorithm to help it combat webspam from black hat SEOs. Dubbed Penguin, it aims to eliminate from the search engine’s listings websites that engage in certain shady practices. But how well does it work?
Google webspam guru Matt Cutts explained the rationale behind Penguin in a post on the Google Webmaster Central blog. He noted that We see all sorts of webspam techniques every day, from keyword stuffing to link schemes that attempt to propel sites higher in rankings. Penguin represents another improvement in our efforts to reduce webspam and promote high quality content. It’s supposed to decrease the rankings of sites that violate Google’s terms of service. Cutts gave two examples of websites whose ranks he expected to see drop after Penguin. One displayed egregious keyword stuffing. The …
On April 26, 2012, In SEO, by SEO Chat - Search Engine Optimization Tutorials
Could Facebook’s cash machine be slowing down? That’s one possible conclusion observers can draw from the paperwork the company recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While it’s not likely to slow down investors, it’s not the best news to get so close to the social media giant’s IPO.
According to a quick item from David Angotti for Search Engine Land, Facebook reported that its net income fell 12 percent in the first quarter of 2012. Looking at the previous quarter’s total revenues, the latest quarter saw total revenues fall six percent, to $1.06 billion. That may not be cause for serious concern, however – especially when you consider that the previous quarter included the holiday shopping season, and Facebook makes its money from ads. Indeed, the company itself noted that the downturn was due to seasonal trends. Compare Facebook’s revenues to the year-ago quarter, and …
On April 26, 2012, In SEO, by SEO Chat - Search Engine Optimization Tutorials
Could Facebook’s cash machine be slowing down? That’s one possible conclusion observers can draw from the paperwork the company recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While it’s not likely to slow down investors, it’s not the best news to get so close to the social media giant’s IPO.
According to a quick item from David Angotti for Search Engine Land, Facebook reported that its net income fell 12 percent in the first quarter of 2012. Looking at the previous quarter’s total revenues, the latest quarter saw total revenues fall six percent, to $1.06 billion. That may not be cause for serious concern, however – especially when you consider that the previous quarter included the holiday shopping season, and Facebook makes its money from ads. Indeed, the company itself noted that the downturn was due to seasonal trends. Compare Facebook’s revenues to the year-ago quarter, and …
On April 25, 2012, In SEO, by SEO Chat - Search Engine Optimization Tutorials
If you’ve never heard of the triangle of trust before, keep reading. It’s an easy way for you to get tons of traffic, top search positions, and more sales.
The phrase triangle of trust was first coined by the famous (and to some, infamous) Frank Kern. For those that don’t know, Frank got in fairly early to the whole Internet thing, but thanks to the boneheaded actions of someone he had zero control over, got noticed by the FTC. When I say got noticed, what I really mean is that they showed up at his door and basically demanded that he give them literally every single penny and valuable possession he had, or else they were going to arrest him for running a pyramid scheme. Now most people would have given up. Instead, ol’ Frank went on to crea…