Matt Cutts announced on Monday that there are some pretty big changes in the Google algorithm coming down the pipes, as Cutts calls it: Penguin 2.0. Exact release date is TBA, but it sounds like it will be coming in the summer months.

In the past, algorithm updates have only been revealed when they are significant. This one was announced ahead of time and labeled with a 2.0, not a 1.6,7,etc. – so we can expect that the SERPs will be shifting indefinitely pretty soon. Some brands will likely see improvements in their search performance, while others less fortunate may fall off the radar completely.

For those of you who prefer reading to video viewing, here is a summary of my interpretation of things to come:

1. Stricter Policy on Advertorials

There is nothing wrong with a pay for inclusion link in the form of an advertorial. But Mr. Cutts says that these links need to:

a. Not flow link juice, and
b. Provide clear disclosure that they are in fact ads and not organic links

Sites that do not adhere to these guidelines may be penalized for poor link tactics, even if it was not intentionally deceptive. If you are paying for a link, make sure you are getting a true ROI by requesting that these guidelines are in place. Otherwise, that link may do your site more harm than good.

2. More Sophisticated Link Analysis

Although he doesn’t delve too much into what this means, Matt says that the Goog is continuing to try to deny link spammers with any value. He doesn’t say that Google will de-index link spammers, but he does mention that he does not want shady links to provide sites with value in search. Maybe this means that some links will pass more “link juice” than others, based on legitimacy? Or maybe some links will essentially be labeled “nofollow” based on an analysis of factors that only Google knows?

No one can know for sure, but based on the previous generation of Penguin, I would assume that some factors that will be evaluated will include:

- The use of exact match anchor text
- Links coming from sites that solely offer “SEO” for your website
- Footer links

3. Webmaster Tools Improvements

Matt mentioned that there will be better detection and notifications for webmasters when a site has been hacked. As more and more sites continue to be targeted by hackers, this is definitely a positive.

Better communication to webmasters through Google’s Webmaster Tools has been a trend in recent months, and it sounds like this will continue to be the case. Any information about how a site is appearing to Google is extremely valuable, so this is one thing I’m excited about.

4. Rewarding Brands for Authority

Brands that are “an authority” in a space will be rewarded with extra weight in search results. Exactly how this will be determined was not said, but I would imagine that social interaction, reviews, and link profile will all contribute to “authority.”

5. More Diversification in the first page of results

Google, in an attempt to keep results as helpful and relevant as possible, is cutting down on clusters of pages from a single domain appearing on the first page of results. However, this doesn’t mean that deeper results pages will not include some of these clusters. In fact, Cutts implies that these might actually be more common on the second page of results.

Reading Between the Lines?

I don’t claim to be a mind reader, but my hunch is that we can expect the following as well:

1. Engagement metrics will increase in importance.

Matt opened the video with saying that if webmasters continue to build sites that are engaging to users and include quality content, they are doing what they should be. We’ve always known that social interaction and things such as click through rate are important. But there has been some debate about how important some other metrics, such as time on site and bounce rate, really are. I have a hunch that Google might examine these things a bit more closely in the future.

2. Google+ reviews will matter even more.

Similarly to on-site engagement metrics, I think that social engagement and reviews on Google+ will grow in significance.

Why? The content on Google+ is all crawlable, and I would imagine that is no accident. Plus, we all know that Google likes it when people use their products, (hence why so many YouTube videos show in Google mixed results). Also, the fact that Google just rolled out a whole new layout for Google+ means that their developers are hard at work to make this platform optimal for users. I would suggest any brand to jump on the Google+ bandwagon and quick.

What does this mean for brands?

If you are aware of any spammy link tactics that a not-so-great search team has done for your website in the past, it might be time to clean up some of those links. Regardless, I would suggest taking a hard look at your site’s link profile and look for anything unnatural or of very low quality.

The penalties for link spammers are only going to become more and more strict. Since the “Backrub” planning stages, links have been considered extremely important for giving a site legitimacy. So it makes sense that they would also be weighed heavily when deciding if a site has used manipulative tactics.

What does this mean for SEOs?

If SEOs are doing their job the right way, they shouldn’t have too much to worry about. There is always a risk that client sites will get dinged, even if you are following guidelines, but Google is fairly good at updating and correcting these imperfections in algorithm updates.

One thing though, that I’m excited about at least, is a promise for more Webmaster reporting. Google has been really stepping up its game lately as far as providing us with more data in its free tools. With the new social measuring capabilities in Analytics, and more and more upgrades in Webmaster Tools, they seem to be working on improving these tools significantly. Now if only they would get rid of “keyword (not provided)”…

The post Coming Soon: Penguin 2.0 appeared first on .

Local Showcase: Content Marketing

The inspiration for this post might have stemmed from the long-awaited spring weather, but Derek asked me to break from our clients and own brand agenda to recognize the solid work a couple local agencies are doing, specifically in content marketing. Atomicdust and Gorilla 76 stand out as two shops that excel at producing great work and sharing their achievements with the digital realm. No agency is an island; without the inspiration and support from these guys across town, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Even though our specialty is Search and PPC, rather than branding and design, we really appreciate learning from these brands’ published work and sharing methods. The truth is, digital marketing requires strategy from all angles in order to build a powerhouse domain, one that acts as an extension of your brand. And one that is available 24/7 to provide a solution for searchers online.

Why Does Content Marketing Matter?

Although many of us are bored with the constant cries to “create content!” there is an undeniable advantage given to brands that can pull it off smoothly. When the contents of a website, such as blog posts, resources, videos, or case studies, enhance the site’s value without trying to oversell the brand, the domain will much easier recruit and retain visitors. Rather than becoming a hub of self-promotion, an ideal website focuses on the needs or interests of its audience. You want real examples? Let’s do this.

1. Get Ranked

It’s pretty sweet how natural it can be to optimize your website for search engine efficiency. Google’s algorithm continues to reject manipulative, low quality websites from its results pages, simultaneously rewarding legit sites for creating and sharing information that supports visitors’ searches. It makes complete sense; consistently publishing your brand’s work and insight is a solid way to communicate to The Goog that your site is a worthy destination for marketing solutions.

Gorilla 76 is a team of guys that does an exceptional job of writing content for its targeted demographic. Take its piece, Web Marketing Guide for B2B Industrial Companies: this resource was crafted for a very particular audience with particular goals. It’s not going to rank for terms that receive super high search volume, but that’s perfectly fine because the B2B industrial companies that are in need of web marketing will find extreme value in the content on Gorilla 76′s site. I looked for keyword data on SEOmoz and discovered the targeted term to be highly competitive.

This was no surprise, as the powerhouse domains competing with our friends include wikipedia.com, marketingprofs.com, and forbes.com. Still, Gorilla 76 was able to score an impressive spot at the top of the second results page – ideal real estate for attracting CMOs of industry companies. Well done, dudes.

2. Entertain and Engage

Atomicdust impresses me with its ability to attract an audience. It says a lot about a brand when followers on Twitter and Facebook click links simply because the brand’s track record reassures the read will be worth their time. That’s sort of a complicated way of me saying if Atomicdust tweets about a recently dropped post, I’m more than likely going to check it out. I find the content interesting and valid; it’s really that simple. I’m particularly fond of Atomicdust’s ability to fuse its edgy culture and sleek design into the core messaging (e.g., photographing team members to showcase new content). It strengthens the brand’s unique vibe and initiates all sorts of friend crushes.

Atomicdust releases monthly wallpapers that correlate to the season or upcoming events. A quick summary and invitation to download the attached wallpapers rounds out the content. While this initiative may not directly result in signing a new client (who knows, though – that may very well have happened), its distilled purpose is much more lax: to highlight the team’s creativity, the team’s skills, and the desire to share both characteristics with its online community.

Finally, I dig the monthly events posts; by taking the time to consistently curate a list of the month’s creative events (as well as linking to corresponding external pages for more details), Atomicdust provides a really useful, appreciated service that sets it apart.

3. Share Some Secrets

A company blog is pretty useless if it doesn’t dish out tips and hints, either to educate it readers or reaffirm what they already know. Otherwise, think about it – the content would just be dancing around the problems without actually addressing how to fix them. As a brand, you can’t be afraid to explain a process or share your expertise; there will always be clients willing to pay you for services that are beyond their comfort zone and capabilities.

Referring back to Gorilla 76′s content, the industrial-relevant web marketing guide is a seriously robust document that offers valuable tips for CMOs in all industries, really – though as mentioned, it’s smartly targeted for the construction biz. Throughout the guide, Gorilla 76 has sprinkled helpful visuals and resource links into the rich content, further validating the brand’s desire to share its know-how with an interested audience.

4. Show Success, Duh

Atomicdust is super great at promoting client work as well as the awards or recognition the brand receives. It’s inspiring to read about (or in the case below, view) the different companies with which this brand works, the thought process(es) that spur projects along, and the dazzling end results.

Conclusion

It’s worth noting that blogs fare best when the content type is varied. My favorite company blogs successfully balance education, culture, and proof of success. Any blog that is weighed down by just one of these three attributes will have a difficult time resonating. Too many education posts (sans culture and proof) will leave readers asking “Who are you? And why are we supposed to take your word for it?” Then again, an excess of posts that offer proof come across as self-promotional. Readers are definitely interested in hearing about the recent projects a brand has worked on, but if the string of posts only scream “look at what we did!” it might be difficult to connect with an overwhelmed audience.

I (and everyone at Team Evolve) feel fortunate to have these other agencies to learn from, even though our day-to-day responsibilities are often radically different. Thanks for checking out our local showcase and thanks to Atomicdust and Gorilla 76 for being excellent influences. High fives all around.

The post St. Louis Shout-out: Content Marketing appeared first on .

This list represents some of the most common on-site mistakes SEOs encounter. Luckily, they are also some of the easiest to repair. All of these changes can be implemented by simply adding a few basic lines of code to the site’s .htaccess file.

How to Edit the .htaccess

Using an FTP client, you can log in to your domain and edit the .htaccess file from there. (My preferred FTP client is Filezilla.) Your FTP login should be available from whatever host you are using (e.g., GoDaddy, Bluehost).

For those of you who have access to a cpanel (control panel), the .htaccess file will be available from your File Manager. If unable to find it immediately, make sure you display hidden files, as sometimes it is hidden by default.

In most cases, you should already have an .htaccess file available to select from the existing files; otherwise you will need to create one.

IF there is no sign of a .htaccess file, you can create one. (You’ll want to double or triple check this and cross-source with some other resources before reaching this conclusion, to make sure you are not creating a duplicate.)

Open a text editor program (Notepad for PCs or TextEdit for Macs). Make sure to name the file exactly “.htaccess,” not “htaccess.txt” or any other file extension. Only use lowercase letters and make sure a dot precedes the “htaccess.”

Simple Tricks for SEO

Once you have created or opened the .htaccess file, you are ready to make some edits. Each of these simple lines of code make a BIG difference as far as overall site health and performance. If you are unsure whether or not your site includes these directives, it is worth checking. We generally recommend that every site have these included in the .htaccess file.

Every site is built in terms of directories, which are essentially folders. Each of these directories contains files that represent individual web pages or pieces of media. However, in many instances, a particular file within the directory is not called out in the URL. So for example: yourdomain.com/test/.

Thus, each directory should include an index page (e.g., index.html). These index pages essentially tell the server to display this page by default if a specific file is not requested.

When a server is told to look up a directory that does not contain an index file, all of the files in that folder will be displayed instead (see image below). In other words, if the server is not directed on which file to display by default, it displays a list of all of them.

Why should you care?
For one, there are potential security issues that come along with this. It’s not enough to be a major security problem on its own, but if someone is already looking to breach your security, it’s effectively giving them a tall glass of lemonade. “Here you go Mr. Hacker, thanks for all of your hard work. Enjoy!”

Another, possibly more important, issue is bad user experience. This page is ugly to say the least. It’s definitely not helpful to the user. If you’ve ever stumbled upon one of these pages yourself, I can imagine you didn’t stay for long trying to figure it out.

How To: Disallowing index files prevents servers from producing directory listings for anyone to see. Insert the following code into the root folder of the .htaccess file:

Options -Indexes

Now, if someone enters a directory name that is missing an index file, they will be shown a 403 Forbidden Error. As discussed later in this post, this page can be easily customized in order to give the user instructions on what to do next.

Google treats www.domain.com and domain.com as completely different pages from one another. Without redirecting one page to the other, most sites have identical pages located on both versions.

Why Should You Care?
If there are links to both the www and non-www versions of pages within a domain, this can lead to what is known in the SEO world as “duplicate content.” It’s bad because it splits up the authority of these pages among the different versions, which have acquired links. It can also, in rare instances, lead to penalties.

Therefore, it is important to set a preferred version for every website and redirect all URLs within the domain to that version. Whether you prefer the dub or non-dub is totally up to you, search engines do not have a preference.

How To:
Using 301 Permanent Redirects, all of the authority of the non-preferred pages will be moved to the canonical (preferred) version.

To redirect to the www version of the site, insert the following code into the .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example.com
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

To redirect to the non-www version of the site, insert this code:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.example.com
RewriteRule (.*) http://example.com/$1 [R=301,L]

(Remember to insert your domain name where it says “example.”)

We already discussed how directory indexes (i.e. “index.html”) are important. We want these to exist, definitely. But we don’t necessarily want them to appear at the end of the URL.

Why Should You Care?
While these pages are helpful to the server, the directory index does not help the user. In fact, it is just one more parameter for them to type into their browser, or to copy and paste, or what have you.

Also, this can be another big contributor to duplicate content, as discussed earlier in this post. If the same page exists at “yourdomain.com” and “yourdomain.com/index.html”, this is no good for SEO. One way to clean up a site’s URL structure is to remove extra directory indexes from the URL.

How To:
Add a rewrite rule that instructs the server to redirect all pages with that ending parameter to a URL without it. Insert the following code to the .htaccess file:

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} \/index.html\ HTTP [NC]
RewriteRule (.*)index.html$ /$1 [R=301,L]

Even the healthiest sites have errors every now and then. These most commonly include 404 Not Found errors, for pages that have been deleted or moved. This also includes things such as 500 Server Errors, 403 Forbidden Errors, etc. The causes for these vary, and there are different ways to fix them based on SEO best practices depending on the cause. But that’s a topic for another day.

The first, and easiest step, is to create custom error pages. This ensures that if a visitor does encounter one of these errors, they will be less likely to abandon ship.

Why Should You Care?
From a user experience perspective, errors can be detrimental. If you’ve ever seen an ugly error page like the one above, I’ll take a wild guess that you didn’t stay on that site very long.

Errors are still a big problem and should be a priority to fix. However, the process can be a long one. In the mean time, you have the opportunity to salvage some of the potentially lost revenue and bad user experience by creating a custom page.
Custom pages can include an apology for any inconvenience and direct instructions on what the user should do next.

How To:
In order to do this, you just need to reference custom pages in your .htaccess file.

Add the following lines to your .htaccess, one for each custom error page you’ve created:

Error Document NUM /folder/name.extension

Some examples:

ErrorDocument 404 /errors/not-found.html
ErrorDocument 500 /errors/server.html

Back Up and Test!

1. Back up your .htaccess file.
Before you make any of these changes, save a copy of your .htaccess file! If something does go wrong for whatever reason, you will be able to re-upload the original .htaccess, preventing you from going in to panic mode.

2. Test your site.
After making any change to the .htaccess file, make sure to test out the site to make sure it’s working. Checking after each update will help determine where/if a problem arises.

Summary

As SEOs, we hate to see an awesome site with simple errors holding it back. Many site owners don’t realize that these issues exist and how easily they can be repaired. We encourage you, as a site owner, to ensure that these errors are avoided/corrected as much as possible. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, or even a development background, to fix some core issues that could be preventing a site from performing in search.

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Kai brings with him an impressive portfolio of digital experience, including having developed custom mobile applications for higher education. His interest in lead generation and user experience made Kai an ideal candidate for the position, in which he will assist clients and our own brand in building a stronger digital presence. From generating content strategy to fixing on-site errors, Kai is going to contribute in a myriad of ways. We can’t wait to get started.

Kai has already adjusted swimmingly, dodging our sarcasm with charm and impressing us with his dietary self control (he willingly snacked on a plain baked sweet potato as the rest of us enjoyed sangrias and jerk chicken at Boogaloo for HIS induction lunch). That’s dedication.

Per usual, we interviewed Kai so everyone can get to know him a little better:

Youtube. Even the weird part.

Sleeping soundly. Sleeping is #2 on my list of favorite things to do.

This is one of the few industries where I get to be like Batman; part-detective, part scientist, part accountant and part ninja.

Linux.

Sex and the Origins of Death by William Clark. It’s a fascinating book on why death is inevitable and its connection with sexual reproduction.

I would certainly have lunch with Bret Victor. Or the Ultimate Warrior.

I suffer from Ebulliophobia. I have an intense fear of bubbles.

The post Help Us Welcome Kai to the Crew! appeared first on .

If your website is receiving primarily branded traffic, you are missing out on the opportunity to connect with the larger audience that is unaware of your brand – yet has needs your services or goods can fulfill.

Derek talked about the importance of understanding a buyer persona before diving into keyword research, then making sure a website is able to rank for terms that attract audiences in all stages of what we call the “sales funnel.” To break it down simply, most people start searching with a vague problem in mind. As they perform additional research, they refine their queries to be more specific and often inclusive of a brand name.

Check out the presentation below:

The post Connecting with Consumers through Search appeared first on .

Disclaimer: I don’t condone sabotaging a brand’s reputation or success online. These are merely hypothetical, highly passive aggressive scenarios that you could feasibly carry out if you were burning with an undying passion and needed to do something about it before you snap (by the way, try yoga first). Anyway, this is simply a lighthearted post about reverse-SEO tactics. Why so serious?

Fair, but firm:

Forget the customer service line. Passive aggression is about attempting to teach a lesson without actually having to talk to anyone about it. Here’s where you can start:

The digital manifestation of feedback is the best and worst thing to happen to local institutions. I know I’m not the only one who religiously refers to Yelp or Google+ Local when scoping out a new Thai joint or choosing a daycare center for my kid (okay, my dog). On the flip side, as a consumer, it’s empowering to be able to amplify my feedback for others to digest. Personally, I often hold my breath unless I’m desperate to shout from the mountaintops how much I freaking love a local brand’s service or product.

Why take the time to write a review?
Google is a business, too. When someone is searching for “eye doctor maplewood,” Google wants to deliver a list of the best optometrists it can find in order to retain that person’s trust. A huge indication to Google of the quality of a business is the number of positive reviews. Likewise, a boatload of single-star ratings attached to a brand is going to hurt its visibility in Local Search. So go ahead: tell that brand what you think, especially if your feedback will allow the company to grow and learn from your experience. Or heck, do it just to spite them.

Depending upon the extent of your aggression (and especially the extent of your passiveness), you might be interested in spanning your efforts over a long period of time. If that’s the case, bless you, and listen closely. Go to your browser’s preference settings and change the start-up page to be the dumb website of the brand you hate. At the very least, add it to your list of “favorites” so you can easily access it. Now every day, make sure to visit the homepage, but leave before clicking through to secondary pages.

Why take the time to visit the site?
You may be just one person, but to that site, you can be a passive aggressive pain in the digital arse. By refusing to explore additional pages, you’ll help increase that site’s bounce rate (depending, of course, on the amount of traffic it receives). Will this matter to them? Probably not, actually. But you can laugh quietly, maniacally, to yourself at night, and imagine the Bounce Rate swelling in Analytics. You cunning sonofagun.

Evil, but I get it:

If you’re wanting it to hurt a little more, you fit into this category.

Maybe it makes me evil. Maybe it makes me genius. Regardless, I never hesitate to alleviate my rage for a certain student loan lender after flushing a solid chunk of my budget down the pipes every month. How do I do it? Easy. I search a broad term (in my case, it’s usually “student loans”) and click away on the highest-position ad belonging to the brand I want to ruin. I immediately return to the search page and repeat the process.

Why take the time to click ads?
The broader the term, the most competitive and expensive the cost. Brands don’t have to pay for the ad to show up; they only have to fork over money if someone clicks through. And that’s where you come in, assuming the company you want destroyed is running PPC campaigns. Search. Click. Smile.

If you have your own website, you’re in luck – especially if its Domain Authority is hovering at a 14 like mine is. So I’ve never actually used my blog for bad, but if I were desperate enough to evoke some pain, I might try leveraging my crappy website for evil.

Why take the time to link from my site?
Links from shotty domains can often weaken the backlink profile of a brand (especially if its portfolio of inbound links is already thin). You could also trash talk the brand in your posts and hope that Google starts associating the company with certain negative keywords, which would then populate in Google Instant results. This tactic isn’t very practical or measurable – and honestly, it will probably make you look like a Bitter Betty. But that’s what passive aggression is all about, I guess.

Psychotic – also, you should see someone:

I’m not going into extreme detail about these because I have zero experience performing any of these extracurricular activities. I solemnly swear. But it’s interesting to think that there are people out there who actually do “negative SEO.” These efforts are not okay. Probably not even legal. And the people who do them are clinically insane. Here’s a quick overview of what they do:

Duplicate content can harm a website’s ability to rank and thrive because it harms the user experience. If your site is guilty of possessing multiple pages (different URLs) that have identical or nearly-identical content, you’re probably pissing off the search bots and your customers. (There are exceptions.) So what Negative SEOs do is scrape content from sites they want to bring down and replicate that information on random sites. This positions them as guilty of pursuing shady duplicate content strategies. It’s awful.

I especially don’t know how to do this, but I guess all you need to do is hack a site’s FTP and add a few key URLs into the robots.txt – a file that specifies to bots which pages are OFF LIMITS. So yes, assuming you decided to slip some important pages into the robots.txt file inconspicuously, you could cause serious damage and possibly bump pages from Google’s index.

Last year, Google’s Penguin update cracked down on websites that engaged in manipulative tactics to rank higher. One huge red flag was (and still is) a shady backlink profile. For instance, a website that attracts thousands of really low quality links from sites that aren’t even related to the brand is likely purchasing them in order to appear as more valuable than it is. As a fellow agency showed in its Negative SEO case study, this tactic works against websites today. And at bargain price.

Wrap-up

Before you go on a digital killing spree, remember to take this post not at all seriously. Instead, I hope you realize how many components are taken into consideration for Google to determine the quality of a site. You have the ability to influence the rise or demise of a website’s visibility in search engines. Isn’t it empowering?

I know this isn’t an exclusive list; what did I miss here? Leave a comment below!

The post Digital Passive Aggression: A (Silly) Guide to Negative SEO appeared first on .

Keyword research is an important concept for SEO, arguably the most important. It ultimately serves as the basis for all online strategies that follow.

But it is a pretty daunting task for some of us non-keyword research experts, including me. For some of us, navigating Excel or drawing takeaways from data are not easy tasks, much less getting into the mind of consumers in search.

This post shares tips for other keyword research novices. Like any skill worth learning, keyword research requires practice. So let’s find out where to start when generating a keyword list.

Why Should I Care?

Keywords = People

Keywords are not about manipulating search engines (or at least they shouldn’t be), and they aren’t industry garble. Behind keyword data are literal people conducting searches for products and services like yours.

Making a website search friendly means making it available to those people who need it. The way we do that is to look at company goals and align those goals with keywords that are actually being searched.

But How to Find Keywords?

Keyword research is neither a quick nor easy process. But it’s also not rocket science (agencies that say so might need a humility check). By following the steps below, anyone can establish some basic keyword research to use as a foundation for website content.

Core terms are words that describe your services. These don’t have to be perfect – you can modify them and find the most searched versions of them later. However, take a few minutes to think about the most important services for which your company (or client’s company) is trying to rank in search. Think broad and high level terms, as these will serve as the basis for keyword campaigns. Put these initial ideas down in a spreadsheet and keep them in mind.

Take a look at Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools and compare the data with these core terms. In Google Analytics, look at the organic search keywords driving traffic to your website. In Webmaster Tools, look for terms that are getting the most impressions and highest click through rate to your site.

*Side note: You will notice a little thing called “(Not Provided)”. This represents data that Google is withholding because the user was logged into a Google account when conducting the search. You will also probably notice that it represents a large number of your visits. Unfortunately, Google still owns the rights to its data, and can continue to limit access to it, so this chunk cannot be seen in Analytics.*

Not finding your core terms in GA or WMT? Translation: You are not showing up in search results for core product/service terms. This means your website might need a major rehaul in terms of content.

If most of the terms people search to reach your site are your brand name or branded services, this means a couple of things. First, the traffic coming to your site is already aware of your brand – and interested. Second, by not targeting service keywords, you’re missing out on the opportunity of reaching everyone who DOESN’T know your brand.

Finding your core terms? Great! But you aren’t finished yet. In many instances, the terms that people think they should be ranking for either:
1. Have little to no search volume – meaning that people aren’t searching the same way you are talking on your website, or
2. Are super competitive – meaning you have little chance to rank in search engines for these terms without dishing out serious cash for a paid search campaign

In order to reach a wider range of potential audience members, you will need to rank for terms that you may not have thought of initially, potentially a lot of them. The next steps will lay out the process of finding more terms relating to these core terms.

A competitor in this instance refers to another website ranking for your key service terms. Conduct a Google search for some of the terms established in steps 1 and 2. Look for repetition in search results. The websites ranking for a few of your core services are your competitors. Granted, you may not have heard of them, but in the online realm, they are grabbing your potential organic search traffic, which translates to your potential customers.

Once you have established 3-5 competitors, use the Keyword Tool in Google Adwords.

This is a free tool that anyone with a Gmail or Google account can use. Type the URLs of competitors into the section labeled “Website.”

This will populate keyword terms that are used throughout the site. Make sure that you select the “Keyword Ideas” tab and all three match types (seen below) in order to populate the most results.

Download these results in a CSV file, and scrape the terms to get rid of any that do not apply. Rinse and repeat for other competitors, combining each into one giant spreadsheet and getting rid of duplicates.

For any given category of terms that you discover, circle directly back to the keyword tool. This time, enter a handful of these terms into the box that says “Word or Phrase.” Separate them by one keyword per line.

This will populate related search terms that your competitors may not have targets on their sites. Add these results to your existing spreadsheet, de-dup, and scrub for irrelevant terms.

Go to Google, start entering a key term, but don’t press enter. The results that show up in that drop down menu are called “Google Instant” results and represent the most searched variations of the term which you have started to enter. This will show you tons of variations of this term, usually all with significant search volume.

Rinse and repeat with these results until you are no longer getting new search terms. Once again, circle back to the keyword tool and add your new terms to the mix. Expand that spreadsheet and scrub s’more.

When you conduct a Google search for a key term, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page. Here you will see a list of related search terms (seen below).

Start from scratch with each of these that apply. Enter them into Google for Instant results, and dump into the keyword tool with related terms.

Continue to combine these with your existing keyword spreadsheet.

Ubersuggest.org is another free tool that allows you to expand on existing keywords and see related terms with significant search volume.

One handy feature with UberSuggest is the ability to select a group of keywords, click “Get” and copy and paste into the Keyword Tool. This helps you easily pick out the terms that are searched often each month but are also not too competitive.

These are all free keyword tools anyone can use to understand their target audience and develop a content strategy. Keyword research is the core of Search success because everything is (should be) developed only after this critical step is completed. Then you can work generating content that will truly fill a need for your consumers. After that, you can leverage it for outreach, drawing more traffic and authority to your website.

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Niche 1: Air Conditioning Blog

When I googled “air conditioning blog,” the first result to populate was a company called A #1 Air. Unlike the days of yore in which brands could “rank” first in the yellow pages, a name like A#1 isn’t going to increase a website’s visibility in the search engines. Google doesn’t exactly deliver results alphabetically.

What stood out to me more than anything was this brand’s willingness to adapt to the requirements of the digital age. It takes years to build a blog that can rank well in search engines (not to mention first position for “air conditioning blog”). A#1 obviously jumped ship upon realizing no one really uses YellowBook anymore, except as a makeshift booster seat or a doorstopper.

The blog’s content is pretty solid for the most part. As someone who isn’t a homeowner, it’s hard for me to gauge whether the posts are super helpful or not. I applaud this brand’s use of local terms in addition to industry keywords; companies that serve a restricted geographic area are dependent upon ranking for local terms. However, I would warn against using them too often, as it tends to deflate the authenticity of the posts.

User experience is a significant deciding factor for whether or not a visitor to a blog stays or leaves. This blog makes it possible to search and browse for past posts in a myriad of ways, including a search bar at the top, a list of archives organized by month, categories, and tags. It’s probably not necessary to employ all of these options, but doing so doesn’t hurt.

While this blog is updated pretty consistently and does a great job of targeting keywords, it would be nice to include a more tangible post. By this, I mean visualizing a problem (even a small one) with photos and then including a step-by-step explanation of how to fix it. The posts often ask readers to contact A#1 for their air conditioning needs, but I think a tactical post would help. It’s okay to give away secrets or a process because most visitors in need of a service aren’t going to do it themselves anyway. Rather, they appreciate the brand’s willingness to share information. It instills a sense of trust.

Niche 2: Logistics Blog

Whatever the industry, there are people searching for answers. A blog provides the perfect platform for answering these questions. Besides shedding light on the industry as a whole or how a particular brand’s process works, brands can use their blog as a place for sharing news. Burris Logistics does exactly that.

One way to showcase expertise is to document and share industry involvement. In this case, Burris Logistics frequents conferences and workshops to collaborate, network, and learn about the latest industry news and trends. As a visitor to the blog, I appreciate Burris Logistics’ dedication to investing in education for both the brand and its employees.

B2B brands often struggle to generate unique content in an interesting way. In between technical or informative posts, it’s refreshing to feature articles that serve as PR-esque buffers. This blog, for example, dedicates an entire post to employees celebrating an anniversary with the company. Through the employee interviews, readers learn a lot about the brand’s devotion to employees’ growth and well-being, as well as the kind of culture this brand provides.

I wish the employees in attendance to the logistics conferences had been able to share some of the information they learned. Doing so could spark a conversation with other professionals in the industry. More than anything, it would prove that the employees of Burris Logistics truly benefited from the experience. Even though the blog’s general audience may not fully understand or appreciate the content, it would recognize the brand’s interest in transferring trust and information.

Niche 3: Insurance Blog

The third and final industry I explored was insurance. The big names have a reputation for investing very heavily on television ads. Often times, the purpose of the spot isn’t even related to insurance, but to drill the brand name into the viewers’ psyche. What about those of us who are more inclined to search for insurance companies based on needs, not brand names? And those of us who don’t have a TV (looks around hopefully)? There is hope yet; Home Insurance, a mid-sized insurance company, is whipping up some pretty great, totally realistic posts on its blog.

Home Insurance impressed me with the overall quality of its posts. The latest article, for example, dives into extreme detail on the subject of water damage, including how homes become damaged in the first place (who knew clogged gutters could cause it?).

I know how difficult it can be to put a new spin on a subject. What’s important to realize, though, is that even a slight variation or perception of a subject can resonate with completely different audiences. One blog post, for example, could have been one inclusive article about insuring personal items, but instead it focused on record collections specifically. While my humble assortment of Pixies and Pavement vinyl may not be anything worth insuring, the post title caught my eye immediately and heightened my respect for the brand.

One thing I love about this blog is that it seems legitimately devoted to benefiting its readers. For example, it recently reached out to professional bloggers to assemble a list of handy money-saving tips. Is insurance mentioned anywhere? Not that I can tell – all I see are an armful of tips from normal people about saving a few bucks. These practical snippets convey to me that the brand is committed to its consumers enough to invest in a project that really has nothing to do with insurance. Home Insurance wasn’t afraid to seek advice from others – and the end result is a super robust, sharable, helpful infographic.

People generally want to know who has written the post. It’s just comforting to be able to associate a name with the words you’re reading. Sometimes brands will accrue a following due to a specific member on the blog. Don’t inhibit this by keeping blog posts anonymous (of course there are exceptions). I appreciate the latest post linking to the author’s Google+ page; it makes stalking way easier.

The most effective content evokes a desire to chime in. Whether by sharing with Twitter followers or replying to the article in the comment section, a reader should be able to effortlessly take action. A proper blog should be enhanced with social share buttons and commenting capabilities. This blog gets a thumbs-up for accomplishing both – as well as a high five for adding embedding instructions to its recent infographic.

Honestly, there’s not much I can really add to this one. This particular brand impressed me the most with its ability to provide industry information without trying too hard for the sale. There’s even a sweet poll that allows visitors to vote on the type of post subject they are most interested in. Wow. Well done. I suppose the one bit of advice I could dish out is to remove the dates from the post URLs; keeping keywords close to the root domain is the best approach.

Conclusion

Blogs are critical elements of a website. They allow brands to share their expertise to an audience that’s actually interested. How companies still see the value in expensive TV ads more than their personal domain is hard (for me) to understand. When a content strategy meets implementation, a company can experience a serious spike in authority and traffic. And let’s not forget that consistently updating a website with fresh content is a major indication to search engines of a caring website. If you’ve been struggling to understand how a brand can constantly generate content that will actually target keywords and help an audience, hopefully this post has reminded you that it is possible, despite your industry.

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Enough about us; let’s find out more about our new Paid Search & Analytics Manager:

Lately, when I’m looking for some inspiration I go to LinkedIn. I like it because it’s a hub
of very smart people sharing ideas and tips for both work and life. When I need a laugh,
thisadvertisinglife.tumblr.com/ always brings tears to my eyes.

Drinking wine.

I like the constant learning and growing required to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of
this industry. I feel like it keeps me from becoming stagnant.

Mac..duh

Rework by Jason Fried. I would recommend it to anyone who works.

Lucille Ball. Maybe it’s the red hair, but I’ve been a fan since I was a kid. She was timeless and
hilarious and she crushed it when the only thing women crushed was being a housewife.

I’m a big Cardinals fan. I also play a lot of slow-pitch softball and love every minute of it.

Care to connect with Laura? Find her on LinkedIn and Twitter!

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Today we’re going to dig into link building, or outreach, as it’s often referred to in 2013. Even if you haven’t purchased links for your site, there’s a pretty good chance your old methods are quickly fading into oblivion. So let’s look at a brief overview of which tactics are losing their relevancy and what you can do to get back into the game.

1. Put away the credit card.

This is probably obvious, but if you aren’t completely convinced, it’s only a matter of time before The Goog catches you red-handed and makes you suffer the consequences. Don’t buy links. Don’t let anyone convince you it’s a good idea.

2. Stop posting links in comments.

Most blogs (especially those that have high authority) automatically assign “nofollow” attributes to any links in the comments section. So go ahead, spam the comment sections of blogs that attract the audience you wish you could have. Not only will you annoy everyone reading the post, but you’ll also waste your time on a totally futile venture.

3. Back off the directories.

There was a time when it was really beneficial to be included in directories because it made the crawling/indexing process easier for search engines. Nowadays, some directories still hold value, but there are plenty that will end up hurting your reputation more than helping it. We recommend pursuing more relevant measures.

4. Bring something to the table.

If your link building strategy has always consisted of contacting webmasters for a link – just because – well, you’ve probably noticed that it’s not working anymore. And that’s because while it used to be flattering to be asked for a link, it is now aggravating for webmasters. Why should they share the authority they’ve worked hard to build? Unless you have something to give them in exchange (i.e., content their audience will appreciate), don’t waste your time. Or theirs.
This brings us to the core of outreach strategy – content! Yes, we know you’re sick of hearing about it, but try to put on your grown-up pants and realize that you’re going to have to do things the hard way from here on out.

Content generation is not easy, but it starts with keywords. This is because keywords are essentially real queries from real customers, so you can understand what kinds of questions you should be answering. (That’s the aha moment.) We’ve recently written several posts about content, so if you’re stuck in a rut – and let’s face it, this happens to everyone – you can hopefully gain some inspiration. First figure out what purpose your content should serve; there are eight purposes we came up with. Keep in mind that while content can sell for you, it doesn’t always have to be overly promotional.

Outreach is still a very difficult, time-consuming process, so we took the time to outline our method. It’s literally a step-by-step instructional guide for conducting outreach.

We’ve actually assembled a couple of versions, one that is geared toward tech-savvy folks who have access to the kind of software we use at Evolve Digital Labs. The other is for non-nerds, so it’s a bit easier to digest. Whether you’re a fellow SEO, marketing director, or student, we invite you to download these outreach documents and get started.

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