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Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing »
Posted on March 27th, 2008 by Derrick McKee in Business Blogging, Internet, SEO, Search Engine Reputation Management | 1 Comment
My esteemed colleague, Mr. Paul Woodhouse, mentioned in his most recent blog that he’s not one to fall in love easily. While that type of cynical temperament is to be expected from a Brit (and a fine Brit he be, as best they come), the same cannot be said of this Celtic lad (a far superior bloodline, if you ask me). I literally fall in love at the drop of a dime.
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TAGS: search engine optimization, Search Engine Reputation Management, SEO, SERM
My Name is NOT Michael Caine »
Posted on October 29th, 2007 by Paul Woodhouse in PPC, Paid Search, SEO | Leave A Comment
I’ve always attracted the inveterate crazies – like flies round the proverbial cow pat.
I don’t what it is; whether they see a kindred spirit when they see me, or they do it to everybody they come across, but I’ve always had more than my fair share of lunatics cracking crazy conversation while I’ve been trying to mind my own business.
Just last week I was accosted by a gentleman requiring a light during one of my power smoke breaks. The only clue I had that led me to thinking he was half a yard short of a full-length plank was that he had a bit of dried food on his face. I don’t want to assume it might’ve been refried beans just because his opening line involved the Mexican restaurant next door and how it reminded him of Tijuana during the Vietnam War.
Even though I smoke a cigarette quicker than a laboratory-confined beagle, I had a feeling this was going to be a long 45 seconds. And so the conversation went:
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TAGS: PPC, SEO
Sneaker Pimps »
Posted on October 21st, 2007 by Paul Woodhouse in E-commerce, PPC, SEO | Leave A Comment
I’ve always gunned for the underdog. There’s nothing I like more than getting hold of a Web presence of a small company and helping them compete with the bigger boys and girls.
Honestly, it’s fun. Whether it’s a small sheet metal shop getting its blog archived by The British Library, its sister company getting its planters on the TV, a small rural pub interviewed by BBC radio, a car sourcing company getting the Lamborghini factory in a twist over who had offered them one of 20 pre-sold $1.4 million Reventons - it all brings a smile to my face.
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TAGS: SEO
Hey Big Spender! »
Posted on August 1st, 2007 by Paul Woodhouse in Online Advertising, PPC, Paid Search, Search Engines | Leave A Comment
I have a buddy back in Blighty who is married to the daughter of the former chief clerk of our local council. Now the chief clerk of the council holds all the purse strings when it comes to whys and what for’s of local public spending. For example, they get to decide who gets to do the work once a project is decided upon. Whether these are ongoing concerns such as parks, pavements and other related civic expenditure or one-offs they tend to give the nod.
You may recall a certain Mrs. Thatcher during the eighties - I know I do. Well under her leadership, we in Britain were given the opportunity to become more acquainted with the concept of public/private partnership. In a nutshell, everything that could be deregulated and decentralized was and opened up to competitive tender. Continue reading →
TAGS: blogs, PPC, SEO
Serendipitous Searching? »
Posted on July 23rd, 2007 by Paul Woodhouse in Paid Search, SEM, SEO, Search Engines | Leave A Comment
I’ve simply got to come right out and say it - I’m no fan of country music.
In fact, I hate it. I don’t hate people who listen to it, I just don’t personally care to listen to it. (Does that afford me enough wriggle room?)
Nor am I saying that the music I listen to is in any way better. I can assure the vast majority of people would find the sort of stuff I listen to the equivalent of having their ears syringed with hot cheese. It’s an acquired taste to put it mildly.
Although I’ve had Jamboree in the Hills mentioned once or twice, I wasn’t fully prepared for its full exposure on Thursday’s TV. That redneck run, or whatever it’s called, left me slack-jawed with amazement. I’ve never seen such fat chaps run so fast.
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TAGS: Paid Search, PPC, SEO
The Essential Web Site Check List – Part 3 »
Posted on April 22nd, 2007 by Justin Seibert in PPC, Paid Search, SEO, Search Engines, Web Development | Leave A Comment
First of all, I want to apologize for using Pittsburgh Pirate Ronny Paulino in my post about content management systems (step #2). He’s probably my favorite Bucco and it’s clear that I jinxed him. So no q&a today. The Pirates, set for a resurgence, don’t need me adding bad luck to the cause.
With mea culpa out of the way, let’s explore why you should think about Google, Yahoo! and those other search engines when you’re having your Web site developed or redeveloped. Continue reading →
TAGS: cms, google, keywords, meta tegs, PPC, SEO, Web Development, yahoo
Bow Down. You are Worshiping at the Feet of St. Chachi, Your Moral Compass »
Posted on January 18th, 2007 by Justin Seibert in SEO | Leave A Comment
 I watched way too much tv growing up. Although much of that was wasted time, I would never trade in my time with Charles in Charge. Scott Baio not only taught the Pembroke and Powell children, he provided me with my moral background and street wile.
One of the many, many lessons the former crooner (oh yes, he made albums) imparted upon my young sapling of a soul was the Jacket Pocket Rule. He would routinely put an extra $20 in a coat pocket so that it would be a pleasant surprise the next time he wore that jacket. And in an emergency, he could always rummage through his coats for that much needed double sawbuck. Continue reading →
TAGS: meta tags, scott baio, SEO
Search Getting Smarter »
Posted on November 27th, 2006 by Justin Seibert in SEO, Search Engines | Leave A Comment
If you watch sports or The Daily Show, no doubt you’ve seen the commercial for Gears of War at least a dozen times by now. That’s the video game with the real catchy tune - “All around me are familiar faces. Warn out places, warn out faces.”
Curious about the song, I asked Yahoo! “what’s the song on the commercial for Gears of War”. The top natural result was - get ready - useful. It took me to a page on Yahoo! Answers out of Australia that told me the song’s a cover of the Tears for Fears song Mad World by Gary Jules. But you already knew that, didn’t you smart guy? Well, aover 1,000 other people were searching for that same information in October so go ahead, feather your bangs, put on your parachute pants and get on your I’m-the-80’s-music-queen/king high horse.
Just from this one tiny example, it’s pretty apparent that the use of social media is helping search engines return more relevant results. While search engines have largely done a great job of showing you where you want to go to find what you’re looking for, we’ve all experienced seeing links that just don’t seem to make sense.
 In addition to being genuinely impressed with how quickly I got the answer to my seemingly archaic question (I guess I’m not special) I decided to write about this today because I talk to a lot of business owners that just don’t understand why their companies - with relevant content written by experts - doesn’t come up in the natural listings above some of these “bad” links.
I tell them not to feel bad because it can be difficult for even experts in the industry that spend all of their work days on getting listings to show up higher (search engine optimization). Google uses over 100 different variables like the length of time a site’s been up to how many times a particular term and its synonyms are used in a page to how many and which sites link to those pages in its algorithm. And that algorithm’s guarded more closely than Colonel Sanders’ secret spices.
It’s too difficult for the majority of businesses to have the time and expertise to make sure their Web sites show up for related search engine queries above their competitors.  That’s why you should turn to an internet marketing firm with the expertise in search engine optimization to help, like, Direct Online Marketing. They’re pretty good if you like 6′5, 230 pound quarterbacks, laser rocket arm. (Except big games don’t get caught in our throats and we don’t have an overrated brother that gets attention because of his name and playing in a huge market.)
You can get your business ranked higher so that potential clients can find you. It just takes a little know-how, patience, and time. You never want to get taken for a ride, but keep in mind that no matter how good a firm is, it will take a little time for the search engines to pick up their changes and that ongoing work is often required to keep listings high.
TAGS: google, SEO, yahoo
Search Engine Marketing for Schools »
Posted on November 12th, 2006 by Justin Seibert in DOM News, Online Marketing, SEM, SEO | Leave A Comment
When someone asks me what my company does, I usually say that we help businesses increase sales and quality leads through targeted online marketing. If a company is a sales organization and truly wants to increase its sales, we can help.
The one problem I currently have with my description is that not everyone thinks of the words “business” and “sales” the same way I do.
For example, some of the heaviest online marketing investment is for educational facilities. It began with online colleges like Phoenix and has blossomed to brick-and-mortar colleges and universities. Now private schools, boarding schools, parochial schools, and schools for at-risk youth are discovering they can increase enrollment - or just increase the quality of their enrollment - through online marketing.
Online schools can obviously market almost anywhere - they don’t care whether students come from Bar Harbor, ME or Chula Vista, CA. Last month there were over 4.5 million searches for “online college”* - even more than just “college” - so even though there’s a lot of competition, there are a lot of potential “clients” to reach.
The power of geo-targeting allows day schools with physical locations to target only students (or students’ parents) within a drivable distance, say 15-50 miles. Search engine optimization is probably more effective than search engine marketing for these schools unless they’re in major metropolitan areas just because of search volume by geographic region.
Most “colleges” (1.78 million), “boarding schools” (151,000), and “military academies” (22,000) - the numbers in parentheses represent searches per month for those particular terms - may be able to enroll students from any area, but they may also find that they have an easier time selling students from a particular state or region. A school in West Virginia or Arkansas, for example, may not think it’s worth it to try the New England prep scene region and opt instead for the South or Mid-Atlantic.
By advertising on specialities of your school, such as being a “culinary school” (107,000), helping students get “biotechnology jobs” (111,000), or helping “troubled teens” (53,000) you can both differentiate yourself and reach more people with less competition.
By the same token, maybe a boarding school has had students come to it from Japan, Switzerland, or South Korea in the past and wants to try to reach more people from that region. Why not advertise on “American boarding school” (2500) in those regions? You can even have your students help you write the ads and landing pages in the appropriate language.
If you work in admissions for a school that would like to increase its enrollment, please give us a call at 1-800-979-3177 to discuss how we can help you meet your goals.
* A note about my statistics: I base my search volume numbers on the number of overall searches last month on Yahoo for the United States and English speaking Canada, which has about a fifth of the market share of searches in these locations and then multiply these numbers by five (5) to come up with an approximate total # of searches across all search engines per month. Singular and plural versions of the keywords have been combined unless otherwise noted. And remember, these are only numbers for high level keywords. By expanding your list, you can come up with many many times greater numbers of searches.
Of course these numbers will vary by month. If you want to see how search volumes vary over the course of several months, might I suggest Google Trends. A pretty good tool, although search volumes have to be pretty high to show you a trend over the past couple years.
TAGS: google, keywords, SEM, SEO, yahoo
Ghouls, Witches, and Goblins Mean that Holiday Must be around the Corner: Election Day »
Posted on October 25th, 2006 by Justin Seibert in SEO, Search Engines | Leave A Comment
Junk flyers in your mailbox. Telephone calls at dinner time. Mudslinging tv and radio ads. We’ve all been subjected to these types of marketing campaigns for politicians for years. Like most forms of marketing, we’re receptive to some more than others.
But political marketers - although right now it seems to manifest itself at the grass roots level - have a new arrow in their quiver: Google bombing. Google bombing consists of selecting a search term or search phrase, usually negative, and getting a site that you do not own or manage to rank highly in the search engines for that phrase.
The most famous example is “miserable failure”. If you do a Google search for “miserable failure”, you will see the first link shows up is George W. Bush’s bio page on the official White House Web site. Similar tactics have been used to push up Web sites for John Kerry and Al Gore for “waffles” and “miserable loser”, respectively.
Here’s how it works. Search engine optimization, or seo, is the process of getting Web sites to rank higher across the major search terms for various terms. While Google, Yahoo!, and MSN’s Live.com all have different formulae for ranking sites, they all use a large number of variables - up to 100 or more - to determine their rankings.
Even though the formulae, or algorithms, are all different, two items weigh heavily in their rankings: relevant content, and link quantity / quality.
Google bombing focuses heavily on the second item. By getting hundreds or thousands or hundreds of thousands of sites and blogs to write some text with the keyword in question and then link that keyword to the site they’re targeting, they can acheive their desired effect.
Today comes news of bloggers trying to band together to Google bomb George Allen’s campaign. The goal of the allied bloggers is to get an unflattering CBS news article to return the top ranking when a user searches for “George Allen”.
Google says it has changed its algorithm to make such bombing more difficult. Will the bloggers succeed? Track it yourself. Do a “George Allen” search on Google over the next couple weeks until election day to see what shows up.
TAGS: blogs, bomb, keywords, SEO
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