I had a great meeting today with an old friend that I haven't seen for about a decade.
He is preparing for retirement from a very successful dental laboratory service company that he built from the ground up. Now that he is getting closer to that magical day, he has begun in earnest the process of building a set of websites that will be enjoyable for him to run, exercise his penchant for creative activities, and provide a handy income to supplement his current portfolio.
For his purposes it looks like he will need seven websites. All of the websites involve hobbies or passions he has nurtured over the years. But, he just wasn't able to make the leap from thinking about doing it to doing it.
What was holding him back? A handful of progress blocking speed bumps -- a few web issues beyond his skill set. To him they were monstrous complexities. To me, because of my background in programming and website design, they were interesting challenges to be processed through rather quickly.
It was like a cork screw salesman stumbling upon a group of friends gathered in the park for an outdoor wine tasting event -- to which no one had thought to bring a bottle opener.
Through my geekitude and background, I was able to remove a road block that was keeping him from creative expression of his passions.
I didn't create his passion, I can't take any credit for the hard work ahead of him. But, I can feel good about helping him get started -- and perhaps lending a hand from time to time at need.
To me this is leverage of the best variety.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Morphotony -- An unexpected alarm mechanism
A few months ago I registered the domain morphotony.com after discovering that it had the word morphotony had zero search results in google.
How and why did I come to search for the word morphotony? Was in the process of looking up possible names for a band I play bass in. Morphotony was just one of many names we were looking into. (We finally settled on Faxl).
Any way, while looking to see if any existing bands were using the name I noticed that out of the trillions of web pages on the internet google had cataloged zero with the word morphotony. So of course I couldn't rushing out and registering the name. Somehow the fact that no one else on the planet had any interest in the word did not deter my enthusiasm. If I ever get a psychiatrist, I guess I should bring this up in a session -- or two.
Any, any way..... I now have the website and I have established a google alert to inform me of any new pages with the search term morphotony.
That means any time a page is indexed by google that contains morphotony I will be informed. Thus, I have an automatic ping back when google indexes a page. All I have to do is slip "morphotony" onto the page.
For your website, you would want to find a word that works for you.
How and why did I come to search for the word morphotony? Was in the process of looking up possible names for a band I play bass in. Morphotony was just one of many names we were looking into. (We finally settled on Faxl).
Any way, while looking to see if any existing bands were using the name I noticed that out of the trillions of web pages on the internet google had cataloged zero with the word morphotony. So of course I couldn't rushing out and registering the name. Somehow the fact that no one else on the planet had any interest in the word did not deter my enthusiasm. If I ever get a psychiatrist, I guess I should bring this up in a session -- or two.
Any, any way..... I now have the website and I have established a google alert to inform me of any new pages with the search term morphotony.
That means any time a page is indexed by google that contains morphotony I will be informed. Thus, I have an automatic ping back when google indexes a page. All I have to do is slip "morphotony" onto the page.
For your website, you would want to find a word that works for you.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Before You Promote -- Provoke.
Before we look at who (or what) you should be provoking, let's be clear about which usage of provoke we are intending.
Below are a few definitions for provoke that can be found at dictionary.com.
And who should you be provoking. First yourself, then a few friends, then hopefully your target audience.
Before you promote a website -- or web page -- you need to incite yourself to really, really look at the site and make sure it does one very important thing. If your website does not do this one very important thing, then you should not be spending money to promote it.
What is this very important thing? In a minute, I'll tell ya in a minute.
But first, let's look at this issue of provoking a few friends. What is that all about? Simple, before you spend money to promote your website you must provoke a few friends into looking at the site, really looking at it. Not saying they will look at it later, then watching some youtube clips. They really need to look at it. Will all the friends you ask actually look at your site? No. But, you must get at least a few people to look at your site and give you a little feedback.
What is the feedback you want from these few friends you have provoked into looking at your website? You want to know if your website accomplishes that "very important thing" mentioned above. Can your friends tell you this? No, probably not. But they can jabber on for awhile; and, if you listen carefully you might be able to glean from their feedback whether or not the said "very important thing" is being accomplished.
So what is this "very important thing?" Here it is. Does your website provoke readers to any action? Does it incite them? Does it stir them up, arouse them, stimulate, or call forth any action? If it does not do this, do not waste your money on promotion. There is no reason to promote a website that does not provoke some action.
That action can be contacting you for more information. That action can be making a purchase. Or that action can be clicking on a link that takes the reader to an affiliate program. But it needs to be something.
Below are a few definitions for provoke that can be found at dictionary.com.
- to anger, enrage, exasperate, or vex.
- to stir up, arouse, or call forth (feelings, desires, or activity)
- to incite or stimulate (a person, animal, etc.) to action.
- to give rise to, induce, or bring about.
And who should you be provoking. First yourself, then a few friends, then hopefully your target audience.
Before you promote a website -- or web page -- you need to incite yourself to really, really look at the site and make sure it does one very important thing. If your website does not do this one very important thing, then you should not be spending money to promote it.
What is this very important thing? In a minute, I'll tell ya in a minute.
But first, let's look at this issue of provoking a few friends. What is that all about? Simple, before you spend money to promote your website you must provoke a few friends into looking at the site, really looking at it. Not saying they will look at it later, then watching some youtube clips. They really need to look at it. Will all the friends you ask actually look at your site? No. But, you must get at least a few people to look at your site and give you a little feedback.
What is the feedback you want from these few friends you have provoked into looking at your website? You want to know if your website accomplishes that "very important thing" mentioned above. Can your friends tell you this? No, probably not. But they can jabber on for awhile; and, if you listen carefully you might be able to glean from their feedback whether or not the said "very important thing" is being accomplished.
So what is this "very important thing?" Here it is. Does your website provoke readers to any action? Does it incite them? Does it stir them up, arouse them, stimulate, or call forth any action? If it does not do this, do not waste your money on promotion. There is no reason to promote a website that does not provoke some action.
That action can be contacting you for more information. That action can be making a purchase. Or that action can be clicking on a link that takes the reader to an affiliate program. But it needs to be something.
By the way. You may have noticed a lack of provocation to action in this blog. This blog is not designed to provoke an action. The information brought forth in these pages is for the benefit of my clients. When I get a question from a client, and I feel the answer to that question would benefit others, I post my response here. Admittedly some things fall into the category of "products of work in progress" and can't be shared. But for those things that can be shared, this is my way of handing out homework.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Remind me again, why do I care about SEO?
If SEO is not going to guarantee my page is on the front page of google search results why am I going through all this work?
Reason #1) All of the suggestions for improving your page ranking through SEO make your website more efficient, easier to navigate, cleaner, meaner, and a better experience for your readers. That's a good thing in my book.
Reason #2) SEO will influence your page ranking in a positive way. SEO by itself will not push your page rank to 5 or 6. But, it will keep you from shooting yourself in the foot and being relegated to the hell of page rank 0.
Reason #3) Even though SEO will not guarantee your page is on the front page of google search results, it will help. And anything that moves your website up the list in search results is a good thing.
Bottom line, it will help. It won't guarantee anything, but it will help. Remind yourself of this periodically. It might prevent you from stealing your kid's college fund in order to pay for the services of a flim-flam snake oil salesmen hocking guaranteed placement on google's front page.
Cost/Benefit. Everything is measured in cost versus potential benefit. Investing 1000 hours into some obscure aspect of SEO might not be worth the returned benefits. That time might have been better invested in promotions. Cost/Benefit. Don't forget that balance.
Reason #1) All of the suggestions for improving your page ranking through SEO make your website more efficient, easier to navigate, cleaner, meaner, and a better experience for your readers. That's a good thing in my book.
Reason #2) SEO will influence your page ranking in a positive way. SEO by itself will not push your page rank to 5 or 6. But, it will keep you from shooting yourself in the foot and being relegated to the hell of page rank 0.
Reason #3) Even though SEO will not guarantee your page is on the front page of google search results, it will help. And anything that moves your website up the list in search results is a good thing.
Bottom line, it will help. It won't guarantee anything, but it will help. Remind yourself of this periodically. It might prevent you from stealing your kid's college fund in order to pay for the services of a flim-flam snake oil salesmen hocking guaranteed placement on google's front page.
Cost/Benefit. Everything is measured in cost versus potential benefit. Investing 1000 hours into some obscure aspect of SEO might not be worth the returned benefits. That time might have been better invested in promotions. Cost/Benefit. Don't forget that balance.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
What is SEO?
SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization. Some people think it is an acronym for Put My Website On The First Page Of Google. That would be PMWOTFPOG.
The job of SEO is to optimize your website for indexing by search engines. There is a relationship between how well your site is optimized SEO and its search engine results placement SERP. That relationship is simple. If you optimize your website at least you will not be shooting yourself in the foot.
Let's look at job interviews as an analogy. There are things you can do to optimize your chances of getting a job. But these things do not guarantee you will get the job. Let's take the following possible suggestions that one might make to a friend going in for a job interview.
- Clean Up (shower, shave, hair-cut, etc.)
- Dress Well (clean, undamaged, somewhat fashionable, appropriate clothes)
- Be Prompt (show up on time alert and attentive)
- Communicate Well (speak clearly, don't get off the topic, answer questions, be respectful, use appropriate language, etc.)
SEO has the task of cleaning up your website, dressing it well, helping you deliver it promptly in a responsive fashion, and presenting it so that it communications well on topic in fashion appropriate to visitors.
SEO does not guarantee search engine placement, visitors, or conversion. SEO just helps to clean up the site so that it is not its own worse enemy.
Placement in the search engines, visitorship, and conversion are addressed by additional steps.
What is my SERP
What is my search engine results placement?
In the search box type in site:www.your-domain-name.com (note: replace your-domain-name.com with the name of your domain.)
Press the go button. If you see no results whatsoever, then you are not even indexed in google.
In the search box type in "keyword phrase" site:www.your-domain-name.com (note: replace keyword phrase with the set of keywords you have chosen to search on.)
That's right. Keep the site:www.your-domain-name.com as part of the search. Let's just make sure that google finds the keyword phrase on your site.
In the search box type in "keyword phrase" and press the search button. This will return results from all possible websites for the keyword phrase entered.
Now start looking for your website in the first 10 pages of search results for the keyword phrase. This will look in the top 1000 web pages found for that keyword phrase.
If you do not find your page in the top 1000, then lament -- things are looking pretty bad for people finding your website through search engine results. You will either need to concentrate on promotion or changing your keyword positioning.
Step #1 -- Confirm you site is indexed by google.
Open a google search page. http://www.google.comIn the search box type in site:www.your-domain-name.com (note: replace your-domain-name.com with the name of your domain.)
Press the go button. If you see no results whatsoever, then you are not even indexed in google.
Step #2 -- Search your site for key phrase.
Open a google search page. http://www.google.comIn the search box type in "keyword phrase" site:www.your-domain-name.com (note: replace keyword phrase with the set of keywords you have chosen to search on.)
That's right. Keep the site:www.your-domain-name.com as part of the search. Let's just make sure that google finds the keyword phrase on your site.
Step #3 -- Search the world for key phrase.
Open a google search page. http://www.google.comIn the search box type in "keyword phrase" and press the search button. This will return results from all possible websites for the keyword phrase entered.
Step #4 -- Hunt for your page.
In google preferences select the option to display 100 results per page. This will cut down on the clicking.Now start looking for your website in the first 10 pages of search results for the keyword phrase. This will look in the top 1000 web pages found for that keyword phrase.
Step #5 -- Celebrate or Lament.
If you find your page in the top 100, then celebrate -- things are looking up.If you do not find your page in the top 1000, then lament -- things are looking pretty bad for people finding your website through search engine results. You will either need to concentrate on promotion or changing your keyword positioning.
Walk In Traffic
A Walk In is either a customer that happens to travel past your store and decide on the spur of the moment to drop in or they are a person whose original soul has departed his or her body and has been replaced with a new soul, either temporarily or permanently.
In this blog we are referring to customers. So please put your marketing thinking cap on.
Once upon a time, long long ago, in a land far far away a website would receive a far bit of walk in or drop by traffic. These are people that just happened to locate and visit your website through the vagaries of the internet.
Those days appear to be long gone. Unless you do something to deliberately promote traffic to your website it is most likely that you will receive zero traffic.
Let's look at some numbers to see why this might be.
If you expect to get traffic from a walk in they will need to see your page in the search engine results page. To see your page in they search engine results page, they need to have done a search. So what is the average number of searches performed per day?
For example, if you look up the search trend on "obama birthday" you will find a dramatic increase in August. But there are no numbers shown. Just the percentage increase.
This is an unfortunate gap in our ability to get a handle on what is happening. Deliberate I'm sure. But unfortunate.
So let's just make up some numbers to illustrate the process. Let's assume that out of the 213 million searches per day 1% are on your exact keyword combination. This is an absurdly high number. That would mean 2.13 million people a day could potentially see your page in the search engine results. But what page are you on? And how many pages into the results can you reasonably expect people to dig?
On rare occasions I will dig three pages into the search results. How many pages will you dig? Two? Three? Ten? If you are not on page 1, 2, or 3 you can pretty much drop any expectation of being found in the search results.
This is the situation for most people. Most folks do not show up in the top of the search results. This means that either they receive zero traffic or they promote.
But, wait a minute I thought the holy grail of SEO was going to get me on the front page of google search results. Check out a short discussion on my take concerning what SEO is.
Now that the internet is a vast wasteland filling with trillions of web pages the accidental visitorship of days gone by are long gone.
Today there is little or no accidental visitorship. Count on promotion. Don't even dream you can bait a hook, drop it in the water and hope for a bite. It could happen, but it's not very likely.
In this blog we are referring to customers. So please put your marketing thinking cap on.
Once upon a time, long long ago, in a land far far away a website would receive a far bit of walk in or drop by traffic. These are people that just happened to locate and visit your website through the vagaries of the internet.
Those days appear to be long gone. Unless you do something to deliberately promote traffic to your website it is most likely that you will receive zero traffic.
Let's look at some numbers to see why this might be.
If you expect to get traffic from a walk in they will need to see your page in the search engine results page. To see your page in they search engine results page, they need to have done a search. So what is the average number of searches performed per day?
- Google 91 million per day
- Yahoo 60 million per day
- MSN 28 million per day
- AOL 16 million per day
- Ask 13 million per day
- Others 6 million per day
- Total 213 million per day
For example, if you look up the search trend on "obama birthday" you will find a dramatic increase in August. But there are no numbers shown. Just the percentage increase.
This is an unfortunate gap in our ability to get a handle on what is happening. Deliberate I'm sure. But unfortunate.
So let's just make up some numbers to illustrate the process. Let's assume that out of the 213 million searches per day 1% are on your exact keyword combination. This is an absurdly high number. That would mean 2.13 million people a day could potentially see your page in the search engine results. But what page are you on? And how many pages into the results can you reasonably expect people to dig?
On rare occasions I will dig three pages into the search results. How many pages will you dig? Two? Three? Ten? If you are not on page 1, 2, or 3 you can pretty much drop any expectation of being found in the search results.
This is the situation for most people. Most folks do not show up in the top of the search results. This means that either they receive zero traffic or they promote.
But, wait a minute I thought the holy grail of SEO was going to get me on the front page of google search results. Check out a short discussion on my take concerning what SEO is.
Now that the internet is a vast wasteland filling with trillions of web pages the accidental visitorship of days gone by are long gone.
Today there is little or no accidental visitorship. Count on promotion. Don't even dream you can bait a hook, drop it in the water and hope for a bite. It could happen, but it's not very likely.
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