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  

6 Steps to Facebook Graph Search SEO Optimization

If you have not heard about the graph search introduction in Facebook, then you need to read into how it affects the future of search within social media (most likely to spread into other networks soon enough). Simultaneously, many companies or experts offering professional SEO services will tell you the importance of social media in getting traffic to your website. So how do you stay on top of all the changes?

Hopefully these 6 simple steps will help guide you in the right direction in staying relevant within the graphical search:

1) Localize

Is your businesses or service listed locally within each area that you provide the service for? Many searches (particularly in social media) are based on a local aspect. If you have multiple locations for your franchise or service ensure that you have a Facebook page for each geographical area. This allows for people to easily find what they are looking for both online and offline. As you can see from the search for "Coffee shops in Waterloo, ON" below: the results number of shops within the city, a map outline, exact address.

The localizaiton aspect also allows people to easily "check in" via mobile devices easily.

2) Encourage Interaction

This not only helps stay connected with your Facebook community, but displays how many people have liked the page, what rating it was given. It helps build brand ambassadors through providing high quality services and interaction (both offline and online). This is significant in gaining credibility since recommendations from friends, acquaintances, families and colleagues are likely to make your business stand out from the competition.

Consequently - people are engaged with the page, and voluntarily encourage checking in, sharing of and commenting regularly. Activity within your online community creates continuous content, communication and in turn results in more visits. Win-win situation!

3) Be Detail Oriented

As you can see, from the Death Valley's Little Brother company outline there is much more to know about a business than the city it is located in:

They are open from 8am-10pm, I can see their number right there and apparently they have "kick-ass" baked goods (I'll just have to go and see how kick-ass they are!). It gives the reader an idea of what they can expect to see there, what the place specializes in but it presents it in a social way, not a traditional menu style. After all, why be on social media if you are not willing to have a little fun with your brand?

4) Create Epic Content, Consistently

This one is pretty obvious considering the term of the "Graph" Search (everything is better in graphics anyways) - make sure you provide relevant content with optimized keywords, it will get picked up. It will help all the creativity and effort pay off - plus it will become easily searchable on social media, where in turn it can be shared with others, commented on, and who knows - it might just end up going viral! Here is a view of a "lebron james memes" search:

The results include: (1) actual content (memes), (2) relevant Facebook pages and (3) external websites optimized for those keywords. Ensuring your content and optimization are on point will help it appear on the results pages of graphical searches.

5) Make Connecting via Facebook Easy

Likes from connections on Facebook = higher ranking, comments from connections on Facebook = higher rankings, sharing with others = interactivity. Simple as that - the easier you make it for your community to share content, the easier it will be for your results.

Google SEO ranking improvements are moving towards the generation of original content as are Facebook graph search results, if your brand is not in the publishing game - it needs to be. Digital branding is content oriented, and content drives interaction. Providing the tools to effortlessly share the unique content will further aid in ranking.

6) Keep Track of Changes

Graphic search is still in the early stages, it is bound to get tweak and changed in the future. Staying relevant on any updates can help you stay ahead of the learning curve and anticipate any changes that may need to be made in order to maintain top rankings.

With these latest developments, it is important now more than ever for your brand to have a social media presence that will drive SEO performance, community engagement and visibility. These are some of the tips that will help, but are no means the only things to keep in mind. Do you have any suggestions for graphic search optimization?

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Unknown Tuesday, July 23, 2013  

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