The Rise of Mobile in SEO Rankings

We get to toot our own horn (so to speak) about "predicting" that mobile search will have a huge impact on search engine optimization. If you take a quick peek at our SEO predictions for 2015, mobile dominance was one of the things that was highlighted. Although not a bold claim, it definitely now is one of the major factors of ranking influence for Google (and other search engines).

The rise in mobile however, is no accident. Here is how mobile grew to become a major ranking factor:

Rise of Mobile Devices & Functionality

Obvious right? Well, it is and it isn't. While most of us expected mobile devices to expand in features, not many of us predicted them to invade nearly every aspect of our lives:

• Directions/GPS (Google Maps)
• Dating (Tinder)
• Taxi service (Uber)
• Travel service (Airbnb)
• Restaurant reservations (OpenTable)
• Music (iTunes, Google Music)
• Shows/Movies (Netflix)
• Work (email, mobile office, etc.)
• Photography/Videography

These are just some of the apps or services offered directly via mobile or tablet apps. 

As a matter of fact Canadians have spent over 46% more time on their mobile devices in 2015 than they have in 2011 according to eMarketer.

And guess what users do when they're in an argument with a friend? Trying to find a local place to eat? Shop? They Google it. Whether it be voice search or actually searching Google/Maps, the searches were shifting to mobile.

Shift to Location-Based & Mobile Search

Mobile search seems to be the most common starting point for mobile research, particularly commerce oriented:

As mentioned above, due to the increased functionalities smartphone/tablet have been gaining traction in usage of not only the internet overall, but local searches and exploration.

According to Mediative research, about 53% of mobile searches have local intent. 

Actually, that intent usually results in searches leading to offline purchases according to Google's research below. Connecting the mobile (online) and offline channel together:

With such a quick ability to find information and locate nearby places, actions are being taken much faster as well.

Mediative indicates that 70% of mobile searches result in action being taken within an hour as opposed to a week for desktop.

This is shifting businesses to not only become mobile-friendly in their digital presence but also consider contextual approach to buyers. Be ready with BOTH, the right message and at the right time. Decisions are made almost immediately nowadays and being readily present on mobile devices is critical!

Introduction of Google Mobile Tools & Ranking Algorithm Updates

Having fully embraced this mobile shift, Google put the pedal to the metal and started rolling out new tools and search algorithms to accommodate the shifting trends in how users perform searches. Early-mid 2015, Google rolled out the mobile ranking algorithm which was dubbed "Mobilegeddon" because majority of sites that were not responsive or mobile-friendly were to take a ranking hit.

In addition to rolling out these search updates, Google wanted webmasters to remain competitive in search by offering guidelines and tools to keep  up with the changing times. They have a free mobile-friendly test tool that anyone can use to evaluate the mobile friendliness of their webpage (and to see which areas are in need of improvement).

Most recently, for any users of Google Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools) there is now a tool directly available in the console to see if Google's search recognizes your webpages as mobile friendly.

What Do Website Owners Need to Do?

If your website is not responsive by now, it should be your #1 priority. Not only will your rankings take a hit but any mobile users having difficulty on your website are more than likely to abandon their efforts and check out a competitor. Invest in your mobile users and become part of the shift!

Ideally anything that you do will be mobile-first oriented from here on. Also, keep in mind that wearable technology and the Internet of Things (or IoT) are the next "big thing". Keeping these developments in mind, it will be interesting to see if and how search results are influenced by smartwatches (and other wearable tech).

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Unknown Wednesday, June 01, 2016  

Busting Unrealistic SEO Expectations

I have to admit: this may be a bit of a rant write-up more-so than anything else. It won't be my first (and probably not the last) rant as I went on to discuss why SEO is NOT dead early in 2014 after plenty of bloggers/companies came out disregarding the practice,

Surprise, surprise! We are entering the last few months of 2015 and we are still focusing on SEO (and if you're not, get focusing).


This rant comes from recent interactions with (some potential) clients whose expectations of SEO have been greatly exaggerated either by the online marketing community which uses cliche click-bait articles such as "3 simple ways to triple your traffic in NOW" or by over glorification of the internet as the "answer to all business problems". There is nothing wrong with not being familiar with search engine optimization or asking questions (no such thing as stupid questions), but demanding extreme results is borderline ridiculous.

Let's bust some silly expectations:

1. We don't have a budget for marketing but need to expand our business online.

Budgets for any sort of branding are hard to come by in a small business, I fully understand that. But as another small business to another I can't provide free service to you as much as it might hurt me. Referrals and case studies are great, but we can't do work only for referrals.

You don't grow your own business by constantly handing out free products/services, do you?

In case you really are struggling with your marketing budget and can find some extra time to dedicate to the growth of your business you can use our list of free online marketing tools. There is a little bit of everything for everyone to get started.

2. We want to be ranked 1st for these keywords in 3 months time.

And all of us would love to get you ranked for every single keyword, on the top of Google immediately - but it is nearly impossible to do in a white-hat approach. You don't expect to tell a graphic designer "we want to get 1000 calls in the first 2 weeks from this poster you are designing for us".

Search engine optimization is a long-term, on-going effort that takes close consideration. It is not a one-and-done thing where words on a page are magically changed and turned into an website traffic gold mine. Speaking of page changes...

3. You optimized our pages with targeted keywords, why aren't we ranked 1st yet?

We'll you see, there are a number of other web pages that have already been doing a great job at optimizing their content for the exact same keywords. They have also spent a good deal of time building links, interacting with their social media community and utilizing their structured data.

If you really don't understand the concept: what if there are 10 web pages, and all of them are focusing on the keyword "SEO". Each page includes it in all the important spots that influence rankings, which page comes up first? HINT: There are other forces at work!

4. We got an email offer from another company: for $99/month they are promising us X amount of links & 1st page rankings. Can we expect that from you?

This one is far too frustrating to even begin ranting on but there is one thing to always keep in mind: if there is ever a company promising you a certain amount of links or guaranteeing 1st page rankings without even knowing what keywords are suitable for your web page/area....RUN!

It is a scam or they will get your pages ranked by performing unethical tactics which can get your website penalized & removed from Google altogether. Organizations offering white-hat SEO usually layout a plan with goals in mind, explaining how those goals are going to be achieved while measuring the progress during the work. No promises are made, nor should they be.

If you need help telling the difference from good vs. bad service offers we have a blog post for that as well.

5. Great job on getting us to the top page for keyword X. We will call if we need anything else.

Just because we were able to get you to the 1st page that does not mean that the job is done. While being ranked for a crucial keyword on the 1st page is fantastic - it does not guarantee that your page will remain in that position.

Constant link building, tweaking and updating is necessary to keep that positioning. Don't assume competitors are idle, sooner or later they will catch up if you remain complacent.

6. We are getting more traffic but have not seen an incrase in sales.

What your landing page (the first page people see when they click on your link) looks like is just as important as your position on search engine rankings. If you don't have clear call to action (CTA) buttons or call-outs that encourage visitors to perform a certain action; no amount of good rankings will increase sales.

Come up with an offer your visitors will find attractive, make it worth while and most importantly make it easy for them to take advantage of it. This will ensure that the traffic coming to your website is not going to waste.

If you prefer cliche sayings, this one best explains this concept: you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

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/END OF RANT

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Unknown Tuesday, September 01, 2015  

How to Spot Spam Email Proposals for Online Marketing Services: Dissecting Actual Examples

If you have a website or a social media presence with any sort of contact information (especially a publicly published email) you have, or still do, probably received some sort of email marketing indicating that your website rankings are below the first page of Google. Similarly, the same proposal indicates how the sender can work special online marketing magic at an affordable rate - getting your company visible across social media, Google search, etc. Most of these emails are spam, and spotting real vs. spam is sometimes difficult.

However, there are ways to spot a worth-while email proposal from it's spammy counterpart. Below we take a look at each type of email and it's features that help set them apart:

Spam Email Proposal

Alright, lets start with each of the highlighted sections above:

No Visible Web Presence & Unsupported Self Boasting

The email indicates that this is a "leading firm" in online marketing - which is a fairly bold claim considering I have yet to hear or read anything about "extendyourteam.net" being mentioned within the digital marketing community world wide. Speaking of which, after attempting to open that URL I was unable to load any type of website - meaning that although this email preaches following best-practices and claiming to be a leading firm; it does not have a website of it's own.

How are people supposed to see more information? Perhaps examples of previous work? Other than the information provided in the email, there is no trace of this company on the web. Usually a sign of spam.

Unsupported False Claims Used as a Bait Tactic

If you look at the introduction it simply says "hi" - it is not personalized directly to either the business name or addressed specifically to me as the recipient (keep in mind my name and contact information are accessible across my website, blog and multiple social media websites).

Similarly the paragraph highlighted in blue indicates that my website is not ranked on the first page of Google search results and that the business is no where to be found on social media. There are a number of factors to consider here:

What keywords is the website not ranked on the first page for?
If someone is searching: "digital marketing agency" of course none of the web pages will appear on the first page because that is not the keyword or key-term that is the focus of any of them. Lack of details and vague terminology give this part away.

Who are the competitors "outdoing" me?
Not a single competitor name or detail is included in there - if this was true they would point out that for search term A, competitor A is on the first page while my web pages are not. Is this mentioned anywhere in the email? Absolutely not - simply used as a persuasion attempt to take action.

Which social media websites did you look for, and what were you looking for?
Interestingly enough if I type my business name not only into the different social media platform search options, but in a general Google search, all of my social media profiles come up. More false claims:

1st page results for "nr digital branding" search.

Indicating Spam Intent & Highlighting Outdated Spam Laws

The first sentence of the email indicates that this is a "cold outreach" attempt, in other words spam!It only uses an apology to seem genuine so that the recipient would continue to read further.

Additionally, the inclusion of CAN-Spam Act of 2003 fine print after the signature is another sneaky way of masking legitimacy. Unfortunately most people will get confused by this trick as it gives the perception of following guidelines set out by the Canadian government. The Can-Spam Act of 2003 is no longer valid, it has been replaced by CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation) in 2014 and has been in full effect since last year!

Inconsistent Details

In the body of the email the person indicates their position as "search engine marketing strategist" while in the signature of the email the title of "offshoring coordinator" is used. If you come across discrepancies such as these it could very well be that your email was simply picked up online, put into a large list of recipients and mass blasted in an attempt to elicit some sort of response.

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Luckily, companies providing actual services and following set guidelines are doing a much more appropriate job. Let's take a look below.

Appropriate Email Proposal

Personal Communication & Reason Email Was Received

Unlike the example above, this legitimate email includes personal information in the subject line and as the first greeting message. What a difference it makes to hear an email sent to a person versus "I apologize for this cold outreach" copy & paste spiel.

In addition to the personal messaging, notice that at the bottom of the email further supports the reason as to why specifically the email was sent to me: I am an existing customer. And as an existing customer of an email marketing service, they are offering me free newsletter templates for Valentine's Day. The message and the focus is spot on - everything aligns.

Plus, did you notice the easy unsubscribe option with no SPAM fine-print? Under the new Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation, that is the appropriate way to provide a communication termination option.

Credibility Through Online Presence & Branding

Send Blaster's URL and logo are both easily searchable. If I go to their website I can clearly see that the logo in the email matches their website. The URL that the email came from works just fine and has further information on the company - giving it credibility as an email marketing solutions provider.

Clear Purpose & Indicated Action in Body of Email

The body of the email is kept short and to the point; it did not talk about how my email designs are bad (like the first email indicating that my website is suffering in SEO rankings), nor how I need to improve my email templates. Why? Because I do not send emails to Send Blaster - they do not know what my emails look like, all they do is provide the means for me to send emails. They are simply offering additional free resources on top of the one I subscribed to. Now that is providing customer value!

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Although these emails do differ in some ways - there are a few similarities which make it hard to distinguish legitimacy of communication.

Similarities That Cause Confusion

1. Adherence to Spam Regulations

The spam email may seem as the more legitimate one due to its fine print of the CAN-SPAM regulations, but in reality this law has been replaced with a new legislation. It is important to point out that emails DO NOT require any fine print of regulations - they need to indicate the following;

• who the sender is
• what software or service they are using to send the email (if not their own)
• a clear unsubscribe option directly in the email

While not part of marketing communication legislation, good email messages will also indicate why you are receiving the email much like Send Blaster in the example above (signed up for newsletter, existing customer, etc.).

2. Credibility via Email Signatures or Branding

Notice that the first email seems perhaps a little more credible because the signature contains an "actual name"? While in most cases true, it is not always a good indication of legitimacy. Send Blaster may not have an actual person's signature but it does have other aspects which make it credible: reason as to why the message was receive, clear cut privacy policy, refers to actual name of recipient in copy, etc.

Many spam emails will place "personas" or make-believe signatures to make them seem real. While we cannot for sure say if the person in the example above is real or not, it sure does not give me confidence knowing that they did not have matching titles (what they indicate in the opening paragraph of the email vs. their actual title in the signature) or any sort of web presence.

3. Personalization of Subject Lines to Encourage Open Rate

One email includes "Re:" as if it were replying to a previous email while the other has the recipient's name. Which one is more legitimate? This would depend; I have never had previous communication with anyone from that first email. Therefore including the "Re:" is clearly a bait tactic to get me to open the message. The second email has my name, which is also a marketing tactic used to make the email look as if it was sent personally to me (not such a bad thing after all).

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Hopefully this will help you distinguish between spam and regular marketing service proposals. We all known even the best filters will let through a few junk emails. The better you are prepared to recognize them in your inbox, the less time you will waste managing proposals.

Now I would love to hear any spam-like communication stories you may have come across from? Feel free to share below in the comment section to help others be more prepared.

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Unknown Wednesday, March 18, 2015  

2015 Small Business SEO Predictions

We may have skipped out on our 2014 predictions, but with the popularity of our 2013 SMB predictions post we thought that sharing our small business SEO outlook for the year 2015 was worth the effort. So what exactly can we expect to see happen with search engine optimization in the new year?

Semantics Gain Bigger Ranking Influence

Google and other major search engine are always looking upon improving ranking algorithms. So far in 2014 alone, there have been 13 algorithm updates on the Google search engine! There has been a strong shift towards relevancy of returned results and one of the focuses has been going away from individual or long tail keywords to providing answers to questions and groups of words (sentences almost) as opposed to just keywords.

This trend will continue in 2015 and onwards particularly with the rise of content marketing, specifically visual content that majority of brands are now generating on a regular basis. Search engines will develop a way to better understand (and present) videos, images, PDFs, eBooks, etc. Having the know-how and preperation to implement structured data mark-up on everything that is published online will be crucial in the near future.

If you're looking to get a head start on semantics we put together an informative blog post on semantic SEO, including a step by step guide on how to setup rich snippets using Google Webmaster Tools.

Local Hits the Spot

While organizations have access to digital/mobile channels which allow them to embark on global commercial endeavors now more than ever, local rankings and mark-ups will make a come back. Particularly more effective for retailers with physical locations; the combinations of Google Local Listings (or Google+) and various check-in capabilities via social media platforms will result in local rankings making a come back. Additionally, having the ability to incorporate user reviews directly in these listings creates a UGC (user generated content) platform which transcends the power back to the customer!

Having a good review = more trust = more word of mouth = more business! (not necessarily that simple but you get the idea).

Plus who doesn't like to support home-grown shops and their local neighbourhoods? After all it's about making connections, and the closer that search engines can bring people to a connection...the better!

Less Corporate, More Social

Corporate websites, while great for outlining company information do very little to benefit customers. Especially if the corporate website does not offer a web-store, member area or other user-oriented features.

Image source: http://sivers.org/

Content marketing is taking over, and mastering it to actually provide value will be the ultimate goal
of every organization involved in digital branding. Therefore the shift will move away from focusing on standard corporate websites with description pages to interactive blogs or applications which will provide more value to the customer.

Mobile (Responsive) First

The year 2014 has seen an introduction of various mobile and wearable technology invading our everyday lives. If you aren't wearing Google Glass then you're probably sporting a connected smart-watch of some sort. Having content or a website which is compatible with these mobile devices will help increase rankings, as majority of users are now using mobile devices and voice-recognition searches. Not to mention, Google search will now indicate if your web-pages are mobile friendly or not!

As you may have noticed, mobile and responsive design seem to be part of every prediction over the last couple of years. This just goes to show how important (and how behind) mobile-friendly webpages are. If you haven't updated your old website to responsive design by now make sure this is the first thing on your to-do list for 2015!

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We would love to hear what you believe will be important in the upcoming year. Do you have any predictions?

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Unknown Friday, January 02, 2015  

SEO is NOT Dead

Alright - enough of the gloom and doom predictions, analysis, perspectives, etc.

SEO is NOT dead.

While many digital marketing experts are starting 2014 off with predictions of search engine optimization coming to an end due to Google's latest algorithm changes - it is not true. If you look at majority of blog posts and articles covering this topic, most predict the end of SEO. If not this year, soon enough.

Like all forms of marketing SEO is evolving, and to a certain extent actually remaining the same. Lets examine a few reasons why search engine optimization (or whatever you may want to label it now) is not actually "dead".

Content Marketing Was Always a Part of SEO

For everyone who keeps saying "goodbye SEO, long live content marketing" - you are part right, and part wrong. You are right due to the fact that yes, content marketing has become a more widely-acknowledged and recently adapted marketing effort. The number of infographics on the world wide web (not to mention the number of blog posts!) has skyrocketed. Videos, GIFs, animations, slides...you name it, it is out in the web and that is great news. As I am sure majority of us prefer to follow our own path to purchase enlightenment as opposed to being bombarded by paid advertising (thank goodness for Ad-Blocker extension for browsers huh?). Organizations are realizing the potential of starting conversations as opposed to mass messaging.

Image courtesy of KROMKRATHOG / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

On the flip side, you are wrong to say that this is the year of content marketing. What is content marketing? For those that started out in SEO when it just became the hot topic (at least those that knew how to properly optimize a web page) - they knew about content marketing, and importance of having a blog to share interesting content on. Not only did it provide links it also served as a way to use a human voice and reach the target audience beyond banner ads, or paid advertising. It allowed for interaction, sharing of visual content (if only limited to images a long, long time ago). Only recently has it gained traction as a popular marketing aspect of its own, but it has always been a part of a good SEO strategy.

SEO Is More Than Just Algorithms and Code

While technical aspects of a website do play a significant role in the rankings of a website, search engine optimization is much more than that. Once you finalize the technical aspect of your efforts there are lots of other features to look into. Your website has to be designed with the potential visitor in mind - not for the search engine. It needs to be adaptable to different technologies (responsive design), and most important of all - it needs to add value to a customer and the web world in general. Do you provide answers to burning questions? Do you solve problems in specific way? Do you entertain people? Give them motivation?

Image courtesy of KROMKRATHOG / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There has to be a purpose beyond keywords and trying to be "first" for a certain word that someone might search. Be helpful in a topic, in real life and online. Focus on more than solely on the technical aspects of SEO rankings - provide a complete audience experience and search engine rankings will follow.

Google Analytics Data Shows "Not Provided" - Keywords Are Therefore Extinct

Image gathered from: http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2012/02/24/keyword-not-provided-esrc#.

Ok I will give you this one (somewhat): keywords on their own do not have the same weight as they use to. Not because the data is not available anymore, but because the new semantic algorithms, phrase focus (answering questions) and authority have shifted away from solely focusing on keywords. The focus now goes to giving authority to your web pages - authoring them to indicate a credible source, provide depth to your pages and posts to think beyond just keywords but to focus on topics (great content) that go beyond just writing spammy paragraphs stuffed full of keywords. It needs to be personal, credible and relevant.

Does this mean keywords are useless? Absolutely not - as long as there are search engines there will be keywords. Whether those keywords are written, spoken, long, short, or in a different language...they are still keywords and while it is hard to measure their success due to lack of data, it does not mean that they are irrelevant! We just have a new perspective (as does Google) on how a keyword search is defined and understood.

You can still measure SEO performance in alternative ways and turn your Google Analytics data into helpful insights by focusing on various metrics that are available.

SEO Is Branding

This is the most common misconception that business owners and marketing professionals have regarding SEO: it is NOT only a means to be first on the search engines, it is about building your brand. This means that you have to add personalization and emotion to your content, web-site, social media efforts and for that matter everything that you do on behalf of your brand. That is what separates average brands from good brands, in both traditional and digital marketing.

If you are not engaged in discussions with your potential audience members on forums, social media networks or other online venues (which of course, feeds back into SEO performance) you are focusing on just rankings. Focus on building a positive audience experience; be part of their world, engage with them, listen and participate.

Become great at creating memorable experiences, not just feeding targeted ranking data/information to search crawler bots.

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Unknown Thursday, January 30, 2014  

2013 Small Business SEO Predictions

Hello everyone,
Happy new year!! It has been a while since our latest blog post - time to ramp things up early in 2013!!

Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

With the new year there are a plethora of predictions for SEO I thought it would be worth sharing my thoughts on what would most affect small businesses in 2013. Let's get right into it - here is a list of things small businesses can expect to face for SEO:

Social Keeps Rising in Relevancy

With all of the new social media networks blowing up (Instagram, Pintrest, etc.) and Facebook becoming a publicly traded company people expected social media to decrease in SEO importance. However, now more than ever having an active social media marketing strategy that will have your users engage with your brand. Having mutliple followers and connections sharing content and updates help you increase reach amongst 2nd degree and 3rd degree contacts that otherwise may not have heard of you.

Oh and also, your brand page shows up on Google search if you build up your name in local searches (check out the screen shot below), make sure your page's are optimized for the audience to reach your website or perform an action!

Basics Still Get the Job Done

Ok - I get it, SEO is no longer a new digital branding option but basics still get the job done. Much like sports - you cannot start doing difficult moves before having the fundamentals down. You have to master the regular dribble before going behind the back (basketball players will understand).

Same applies to SEO - whether you optimize your own pages or use some sort of external professional SEO services, make sure that basic on page (header tags, meta tags, titles, urls, written content, anchor text, etc.) are focused, researched and optimized for search engines.

Engaging Content

Having a website simply no longer will be enough for you to build backlinks. With more and more businesses building their web presences including SEO, social media, etc. small business owners will have to step up their content generation. Simply writing a blog or throwing out news releases is not enough anymore - your content has to be interesting, personal and visually appealing.

Step outside of your comfort zone and consider using some new tools:
- YouTube demo/training/outline videos
- Infographics
- How-To Templates
- Interactive flash/java applications
- Latest trends

These are just a few ideas to get you started, amount of options for engaging content is vast. However, remember that making something pretty does not make it interesting!! Be genuine, interesting and knowledgeable with your content and your SEO results will follow.

Mobile, Mobile and More Mobile

The rise of smart phones, tablets, touch screen technology, e-book readers, etc. that come with compatible browsers has been catching up to laptop and desktop web traffic. Make sure that you website is optimized for mobile search engine: have the latest web language (HTML5, CSS) that can be read on multiple hardware, track analytics to learn mobile visitor behaviour, create marketing material that is mobile friendly (QR codes, links to social media, etc.) just to name a few.

The mobile revolution is no longer the future, it is happening now and 2013 will be the year of mobile more than any before it. Make sure you embrace the change and help your audience reach you effortlessly regardless of the technology they are using.

Those are my most influential factors for small business SEO in 2013 - there are many more. Let me know what you think, and if there are other factors which could be more influental than the above mentioned. Look foward to your thoughts!

- N.R.

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Unknown Friday, February 15, 2013