This is how a completely Adobe Flash based website appears to the Google’s search engine spider (your second most important audience segment). The snapshot below is from a real website and I’ve hidden the full URL to protect the innocent.

This means the search engine spider has no way of reading the content to determine what the site is about. The guys at Google are smart, but they can’t read your mind. Additionally, the spider has no way of navigating through the website to index the pages properly based on content. So, all the amazing content about your products, your service, your history, your people, your customers etc. is meaningless to the search spider.

In other words a site that looks amazingly awesome in Flash is rendered as a big old black hole to the search engine. That might be okay for some people but for most it is not and search remains king.

I only saw this today, so it’s new to me, but this provides some very relevant facts about online search behavior. Worth watching:

No less an authority than Matt Cutts, the Google search man himself, says its better to submit a HTML sitemap than a XML sitemap. Here is the video:

Some say don’t bother with XML sitemaps. They say its over-rated when it comes to SEO. They argue that it’s not worth the trouble.

What say you?

It had been a few months since I looked in my Google webmaster tools account. All the sites I  own and operate are in this account and it’s rare for me to not be checking this account, but for some reason I just haven’t done it the past few months. When I log-in I can literally spend hours just going through all the information. It is amazing what you can learn and how you can improve your website through the data in the webmasters account. The information can help you optimize your website, improve traffic and conversions (if you’re e-commerce website).

Here are some of the  golden nuggets that can have an instant positive impact on your website:

1. View the top search queries driving traffic to your website. This gives you a picture of how relevant the traffic is that is coming to your website. It can help you answer  why visitors may not be signing up for your e-newsletter or, not purchasing your product. At the end of the day if you’re getting lots of visitors but they’re arriving based on completely irrelevant search queries, then you have a problem. You can see this in the search queries section. As a side note there is now an enhanced graphical presentation that makes guys like me drool! Here is what I’m talking about:

2. View the sites that link to your website. Which can give you a great idea of where you need to focus your link building efforts. Perhaps your SEO is not where it is because you don’t have the right set of domains linking to you.

3. Status of the sitemap you’ve uploaded to Google. You need your sitemap current everyday. If you don’t have a sitemap uploaded one up NOW!

4. The significance of your website in relation to your top sought keywords. You might think your website needs to be found for “XYZ” keyword, but what is your content saying to drive traffic on “XYZ” keyword searches? The significance scale can help you make the necessary changes to your content.

5. A bunch of diagnostic tools so you know where the Google spider is going, where it’s not going and where it’s failing.

If you have a website and don’t’ have a Google webmaster tools account, then you need to get one set up. I suggest you regularly log in to your webmasters tool account so you can stay ahead of the curve!

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Content Nazi Cartoon by HubSpot, originally uploaded by HubSpot.

NO RANK FOR YOU!

Forget all the social media hallopa for a second. Most business owners, and I’ve talked to a lot of them, want their site to rank well on Google searches. Often times they’ve spent some money building a website but their web developer (read: second cousins 17 year old stepson) isn’t experienced enough to get their site ranked.  If your prospect can’t find your website you can’t sell squat. No matter how cute your graphics or design is.

When it comes to company websites my philosophy is simple. Either get leads from it and sell products on it or just shut it down. The first step in this process is to get your site ranked. People need to find your site for specific terms. And quite honestly, it’s not rocket science. Most people think they know but really they don’t.

So, without giving away the farm here is a quick and dirty SEO guide I put together for a local mom and pop. This particular owner came to me because she has a  food business that she’s running out of her garage. She has a website but its not doing much for her. She is seeking ways to increase traffic and sales online. She has a web guy that “knows it all” but needed some reminders on how to get traffic and increase conversions.

Here is what I told her she needs to tell her web guy:

a. Define Your Keywords

Selecting relevant keywords is a central part of a successful Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. Make a list of 15 critical keywords/phrases you would like to be found for on search engines. Rank them. Review them and make sure you’re comfortable with this set. Do searches on them to see who else show up – this will help you establish it’s relevancy to you.

b. Content Optimization

Carefully sprinkle the keywords you identified into the first paragraph of your index.html page and all other content on your website – the first paragraph of each page is critical. Make sure your content still makes sense to a visitor though, meaning don’t over do this. Use your highest value keywords first and go down the list.

c. Code Optimization

The main thing here is to ensure the right sets of keywords are added to the appropriate tags. Again use your keywords strategically in the following sections of the page:

• Title tag of each page
• ALT-Tag of all images
• Meta Description Tag – A meta description tag is text hidden in the HTML that describes the page’s content.

d. Link Building

Incoming links is the trump card of SEO. All major search engines place high importance on links coming to a site. In the simplest terms, search engines view each link to your website as a vote: If another site links to yours, it must think your site is valuable. Each link to your site contributes value in the search engine’s algorithm, which can help boost your site’s ranking in search results. Good places to get links are: related blogs, vendor sites, partners sites, association sites, non-profit sites etc. Remember relevancy matters. In your case a link coming from a bookstore website is more valuable than one from a “pee-wee” league website.

e. XML Sitemap

Go to http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/ and follow the instructions there to generate your XML sitemap. Then log on to webmasters.google.com using your gmail account and upload the XML sitemap. That’s all there is to it.

This a very good starting point. Keep in mind that SEO is an ongoing process. You need to keep working on link building and optimizing your traffic  on a regular basis. This is where Google Analytics comes in. Again, as I said before it’s not rocket science but it does require time.
photo credit: bjornmeansbear

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Just came across a post on SEO Shark where industry heavy hitters talk about the most enduring search engine optimization (SEO) myths. Rand Fishkin from SEOMoz kicks off the list with his top three:

1. Meta Keywords are still useful (they’re definitely not). See Meta Keywords Tag 101.
2. Keyword Density is a factor in rankings (it’s definitely not). See Keyword Usage.
3. Submitting your site to search engines is a critical part of SEO. It hasn’t been since the 1990’s, but like meta keywords, this one just won’t die.

Check out what leaders like Aaron Wall, Danny Sullivan and others have to say.

I think blogging still has a perception problem. This is especially true in the business world. Despite all the hype surrounding corporate blogs and blogging for business, many marketing managers do not appreciate how powerful a tool blogging can be if used properly. If you’re wondering whether blogging is useful as a marketing tool then at the very least read how blogging doubled Stormhoek sales in less than twelve months.

Fundamentally, it is important for marketing managers to recognize that blogging has evolved from simple online personal journals to central marketing pieces for many companies. Many blue chips, including Dell, GM (FastLane Blog) and others, have recognized the increasing importance of blogs and have used it as a central component in their marketing efforts. Blogging for business is a trend that is only going to grow over the next few years as more and more businesses’ face the reality that their customers want to engage them on the Internet on this platform.

Now don’t just take it from a blogger like me. A recent study from Forrester Research shows that 25% of customers in the US read blogs on a regular basis and 14 % of online consumers leave comments on blogs: