13 E-Commerce Spring Cleaning Tips

Ah spring, a time of renewal. A time to take stock and get rid of the things that you no longer need or use and replace them with things that you now do. This applies not just to your home but to your business. And if you own or manage a Web or ecommerce site, doing a bit of spring cleaning is critical – for search-engine optimization (SEO) and to attract new customers. So here are 13 tips for getting rid of the clutter and freshening up your Web pages.

1. Do a content audit of your site and figure out which pages are performing well and which ones are not. “A content audit is a great website spring cleaning project,” says Gretchen Roberts, CEO & chief inbound strategist, Smoky Labs, a B2B inbound marketing firm. “Most websites are a goldmine of old, forgotten content that can be consolidated, updated, repurposed or even deleted to create a better user experience and actually boost your SEO rankings and on-site conversions.”

If you have the time, “download a database of your entire website and get to work labeling each page as Keep, Discard, Update, Repurpose or Consolidate,” she says. “If time is an issue, go straight to your Web analytics program and find the top 10 pieces of content,” as well the 10 worst.

“If a page is getting close to zero views per month, that's a clear sign you've got a problem,” says Marc Prosser, cofounder & managing partner, Fit Small Business, which provides product and service reviews for small business owners. “Maybe the page is dated. Maybe people just can't find it. Maybe it needs a serious revision. In any case, you can spot your problem pages and determine how you want to fix them.”

One way to do that is by taking a look at successful pages (ones that are getting clicks and have low bounce/exit rates), he says, and trying to duplicate what works.

2. Do an image inventory – and clean up, optimize and refresh your images. “Images can date your website faster than words, so new images can make your site feel fresh and new,” says Chad Jaggers, product manager, LightCMS, a website builder and content management system provider. “Your sales could also benefit from new product shots showing the product in action.”

However, before you start adding new images, take the time to inventory the ones you have.

“Most people tend to neglect cleaning [i.e., deleting or replacing] product imagery that is no longer in use,” says David Attard, founder, DART Creations, a provider of Web design tutorials and tips. “Large ecommerce or web sites tend to accumulate thousands of images that have been superseded. [Smaller businesses have this problem, too.] Besides hogging disk space, it makes it longer and more frustrating to find and add the images you actually need to use.”

To fix this problem, “implement a naming convention for images,[putting images in] folders by year or by product line,” he says. “This will make it easier both for image everyday use and for cleaning up.” Then go through your folders and figure out “what stuff can go and what needs to stay.”

While you are at it, take the time to optimize images. “The most effective way, by far, to speed up the loading time of your website is to compress your images,” says Robert Brandl, founder, WebsiteToolTester.com. “TinyPNG is a free tool that does a lossless compression for Web images. For WordPress there is even a plugin that will do the compression automatically.”

3. Fix your broken links. “They hurt your Google rankings, but even worse, visitors and potential customers that click on a broken link will usually bounce,” says Brandl. “There are several tools, e.g., brokenlinkcheck.com (Web-based, free) and Integrity (Mac), that let you find broken links.”

“Broken links are terrible from a usability point of view (and can have bad SEO implications), but on a large ecommerce store they inevitability happen,” says David Heacock, CEO, FilterBuy.com. “We periodically use the Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool to crawl our site and show us any pages with a ‘404 not found error.’ Once we get this list, we can easily redirect that page to the correct resource. Run this on your site, and I guarantee you that you will be surprised what you find.”

4. Delete old style sheets. “Review your code and remove unused CSS and JS [JavaScript],” says Emily Lord, front end developer, BrainJocks. “You can be as detailed as you want with this task, but going into the weeds will significantly help your performance (for improved speed) and organization (ensuring other team members can pitch in without being lost). You can also run your CSS file through a linter, like http://csslint.net, to catch errors or issues.”

5. Review your SEO strategy and freshen up product descriptions.“Product descriptions and related content that have not been refreshed in a long time can lower search traffic and directly impacts the bottom line,” says Vishwanath Jayashankar, assistant vice president of content solutions, Ugam, a retail analytics provider. Replace canned, manufacturer-generated product descriptions with your own descriptions. And review keywords.

“Quite often, keyword terms that shoppers use to search for [an item] can change over time,” he says. And “not updating [your] content with the latest search keywords can result in losing out on demand.” However, “an easy way to find out which search terms shoppers are using is by using Google Trends.”

6. Check to see if you can improve your site navigation. “Have you surveyed your customers to find out how easy or difficult it is to find products? Or have you picked a few customers and asked them for feedback on your drop-down categories?” asks Robert Gilbreath, vice president of marketing, ShipStation.com, a provider of ecommerce shipping and fulfillment software. “Even talking to a handful of customers will generally yield some ideas for positive site navigation changes.”

 7. Update or unplug old plugins. “Take a good hard look at every plugin you have installed,” says Seth Patel, marketing analytics manager, Main Path Marketing. “There is a good chance that you installed some while developing the site that may have made sense then, but now, 3 years post launch, you are wondering what exactly they do, and if you use them at all. Uninstalling these plugins can greatly increase site performance,” as well as make your site less vulnerable to hackers.
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8. Evaluate your product offerings. “At least one time per year, we go through every product in our product catalog and look at the sales history and recent trends,” says Heacock. “We discontinue items that don’t seem to resonate with customers and redirect that product focus to the items our customer base seems to prefer. Not only does it offer a better customer experience, but [it] frees up time to focus on building up the traffic to the products that move the needle.”

9. Review links to your social media pages. Did your business add any new social media channels in the past year? If so, add links to them on your home page and/or in your header or footer. And check that existing links are correct.

Did you delete any social media accounts? If so, delete links to them on your site. The last thing you want is a customer trying to reach you via social media, on a channel you no longer check or use.

10. Clear the cobwebs from your FAQs and About Us pages. “Are the answers [on your FAQ page] still accurate?” asks consultant Mark Alves. And when was the last time you updated your About Us page? “It’s easy to forget these [pages], but they are often among the first places that a visitor will look. Tidy them up so they don’t sound [out of date].”

11. Make sure your Contact Us form still works. Few things are more embarrassing than finding out customers can’t contact you, because your Contact Us form doesn’t work or is going to someone no longer with the company. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, “fill out the form, hit submit and see what happens,” says Alves. Did you receive the form? If so, “is the confirmation message [still] relevant or does it requiring some tidying?” If not, identify who received the form and determine if that is still the right person to respond.

Even better, get rid of that Contact Us form and give people a more direct way to interact with you – via email, text, phone or live chat.


12. Streamline checkout – and make sure it’s mobile friendly. “Remove excess form fields from your checkout,” suggests Patel. “It's 2016. You don't need someone’s fax number. Besides, reducing form fields is shown to improve conversion rates.”

Similarly, make it easy for smartphone users to purchase from you by optimizing your checkout page for mobile.

13. Change your passwords. “Changing your passwords is something everybody knows should be done regularly, but never quite makes the top of the to-do list,” says Joe Siegrist, vice president & general manager, LastPass. “Eliminating password reuse and regularly changing your passwords are the best ways to avoid having your Web or ecommerce site hacked. When you use the same login information for multiple sites, hackers can access all of your accounts,” he says.

To eliminate this problem, “use a password manager that allows you to create strong, unique passwords and store them in a single [secure] location.” That way “you don’t have to remember them.”

Ranking a Post Using Web 2.0 Sites, Complete Advanced Guide

Web 2.0’s are said to pass a lot of domain authority, and trust flow to a domain. Which in return, affect your SERP’s. And probably that is why these are so popular, because they boost the site rankings a lot, and, they’re free.

Backlinks might not be as effective as they used to be once, but, they aren’t total no-show either. Infact, the right quality of link, with the right relevancy still works like charm to get you to the top page of Google.

Web2.0’s are just sites which let you create a blog, or a page for free. They’ve a pretty extensive list of options, including images, videos and what not. So, it’s easy to get a free backlink from them, containing your keyword, and there’s no issue of it not being approved, because you own the web 2.0 site, so it’s 100% success rate theory, as it’s based around user generated content.

And they rank pretty easy too, see in the below screenshot, for the keyword Dr. Beats Headfone Review, these two sites are the top sites, excluding the e-commerce ones, and I’m 200% sure these are web2.0’s passing link juice to some other money site.

So, let’s put it to work, right?

What’s Inside:

• Why do you need a Web 2.0
• Why Web2.0 isn’t going out of fashion ( ever) !
• Why it’s one of the best link building strategies
• Getting a Web2.0 link from Blogger ( Brief intro!)
• Filling the right type of Content.
• Important Aspects of writing the content
• Important Pages for Web2.0
• Selecting the URL
• Utilizing the Title and Descriptions
• Populating the 2.0 Site
• How Often should you post
• Writing the content [ Complete Guide ]
• Securing your footprints.
• Web 2.0 Sites list

Why do you need  a web 2.0?

What probably can a subdomain give you? Not a lot, right? Think again, that’s where you are wrong. If you’re thinking what can you probably gain from yourkeyword.blogspot.com , because it’s only a subdomain, you’re totally wrong. They do pass a huge amount of link juice, trust flow and lot of other important metrics.

Additionally, you get the most relevant link ever possible for yourself, what can be more relevant and powerful then getting yourkeyword.blogspot.com?

And the best part of it all, you’re in charge of the links, you control, edit or delete them as you please. Okay I know that’s a lot to take in, so just keep reading..

Why Web2.0 isn’t going out of fashion:-

This is just a link building technique, and you don’t have to worry about it going out of fashion anytime soon. Why ? Well, because as long as you are clean, you’re building the pages with quality, and not just for the sake of backlinks, you won’t be hit. ( Don’t worry, I’ll cover how you can do that too ! ).

And, Google won’t just dissolve the link values from Web2.0’s because then it’s like it’s dissolving sites like WordPress.com and Blogger.com, which I doubt google will ever do.

Why Web 2.0’s are one of the best link building options:-

• Control:- You get ultimate control over the link. There’s no way someone else is going to get those links removed. If you create it, you own it.
• Unlimited Number of links:- It’s your site, right? So you can link to as many keywords, or pages as you want from the site, totally free.
• No Penalty:- This is the best of them all, you can’t ever get penalized because of Web2.o’s. That sounds so un-realistic, right? Of course you can, but then again, you can always edit and remove those links and the penalty would be removed so simple isn’t it?
• Free:- Yes, web 2.o’s are more powerful then probably any guest post you can buy for $100-200, and still they’re free. So it’s a 100% ROI thing, you still got an excuse not to use them?

So enough with the sweet talks, let’s get started.

I’ll show you a step-by-step process for blogger.com web2.0 backlinks here, after that I’ll outline each and every little detail of how you should go about working on your next backlinks, and from which sites.

The process is 99% the same, no matter which site you’re using, the only change is in the domain name, so I guess showing you only with one domain is good right? Okay so let’s get to work.

Filling the right type of Content on your Web2.0 site:

You just created a site, and you’ve got the URL, why the hell do you need content now?

Well, if you’re trying to get the links for long-term, so that they aren’t deleted or penalized, it’s important to fill in your blog with content. It tells Google that your site is actually a content rich site, with more then just the homepage indexed.

There are certain specific pages that must be there for any web2.0’s long term authoritativeness, I’d mention them below, but for now let’s work on filling the content.

All of this hard work will pay off only if the blog get’s on the good pages of Google, and in order to achieve that, you’ve to make sure that you follow certain rules and regulations .

Creating a blog, and linking directly back from it won’t work. Well, Google isn’t the dummy it used to be a decade back. You need to fill in the blog with good content in order to let Google know that the purpose of the blog is actually to function as a full fledged blog, with good content and not just passing link juices to other blogs.

One best way to do it is, have a unique headline for starters, headline is the first and most important part of your blog, it’s the first thing that Google analyses, so keep it unique and super catchy. Worried? Not creative enough? Don’t worry I published  a piece exactly on the topic, to help you Write the best possible headlines in minutes !

Unique content is always the best option. Yes it’s time consuming, and yes it’s hard to come up with creativity every time. But, hard work does pay off. If the content is unique, there is more chance of your blog getting a good reputation in the eyes of Google, also, the trust flow that your blog will acquire also depends on how Good your content is, so bottom line? Unique Content is the way to go if you have the time and patience.

No, you don’t need 5000 words long articles. Just 500-700 words articles are fit for the job. You just need to fill in, make the site look heavy just that. And here’s a good new for you, you can actually get articles written for you, for dirtCheap prices from iWriter. As low as $7 for 1000 words ! Yes it’s true.

Important Aspects of writing the content:-

Make sure, the content isn’t Keyword stuffed. Yes, that doesn’t work anymore, and looking natural should be one of the prime goals.

Also, make sure the content contains LSI keywords. Meaning, keywords which mean almost the same as the main keyword, and not only the main keyword every-time. For eg. “GO to market” can be used in place of “Run to market”, right? Yeah don’t worry Google is smart enough to figure that they’re about the same things.

Authoritative Outbound Linking:- The site will be on a free, sub-domain right? So, anyone can start something like that and fill it with bullshit, to let Google know that you aren’t one of them, make sure that you link to Strong, authoritative sites in order to prove your point and your research. you can try linking to Wikipedia, LifeHacker, About.com etc.

It’s because , those sites have immense authority, so out linking to them tells Google that you’re backing up your data with some serious source, so of course your content is worth reading and not just some fairy tale and thus it’s a positive indicator too.

Integrating Media Files:-

Yes media files are important, media files such as Photos / Images / Videos are the most easiest and general media files you can integrate.

But Why?

Well because, just “text-content” isn’t the best way to go about impressing Google, right? Incorporating media files gives the content a more realistic approach, and thus it’s better to keep it real. It’s one of the safe-fails to ensure that your web2.0 won’t be removed the next time there’s any kind of Google Update.

Also, Diversify the media integration. Meaning, adding the same pattern of image/videos isn’t suggested. For eg. if in a post you’ve added one Image as the main image, then try to add 2-3 other images in the content area. While for the next post, try posting just one image for the whole content and like that.

Meaning to say, just keep it as real as possible.

Important Pages for Web2.0’s

1. SEO

2. About Us

3. Contact Us

4. Privacy Policy

No, you don’t need to stuff your web2.0 site with content only. Yes, that’s important. But there’s something else which is important too. There are certain default pages, which are needed in order to let Google know that your page isn’t just any other spam blog, but instead that you’re serious about your site’s future.

In doing so, you’re securing your position on Google, and you won’t be hit by penalties because if you’re serious about what you’re doing, Google won’t ever touch your blog. So just make Google feel the seriousness.

These pages are compulsory even for your long-term blog, in short for every blog that exists. Without these pages, your blog triggers a spam flag, and thus this is definitely not something you should ignore.

See the above screenshot? A site which I tested, didn’t have it’s Contact Page on it, and thus it was marked as a Spam Score by Moz. So, the pages which I’m going to list below are a must for your Web2.0 to survive in the long run as well as your Long term blog.

About Us Page:-

It’s one of the most important pages for any site. It tells Google that there actually is a person or organization behind a website, who is taking responsibility for all content and stuff on the site, which is a positive indicator for Google.

If someone’s name is associated with a site, then his reputation too is automatically associated with the site and according to Google those sites are owned by more serious bloggers, and it’s kind of true too, to a certain extent.

For the About us Page, you can use a lot of variations too.

• Don’t use the same name on all the sites. Meaning, you can use the same name for a certain keyword web2.0 , but don’t use it for every keyword web2.0 you create. Like, if I create a web2.0 for Blog Promotion Strategies and use my name on all the 2.0 sites for this keyword, it’s fine. But if I use the same name and bio for all other keywords on different 2.0’s which I might create later, it’s not the best option.
• Use a variation of style. Meaning, if one a site you’re using “I” as the main word, like I’m writing this article, then on the next blog make it more solid, and definitive, by using words like “We”, “our” etc.
• Add a picture. Yes, it gives more authority to the page if there’s an img tag on the site, now Google doesn’t have eyes but it senses, so make sure you include an img tag, meaning upload an image on the page .

So, do create an About Us page for your web 2.0. Ofcourse, include a short story or Bio about you.

Contact Page:-

As the above screenshot showed, a contact page is a must for a Good reputation site. It confirms Google that there’s a person or team at the back-end who can be contacted for issues and it naturally is a positive side .

On the contact page, have atleast one  link to your homepage , it’s one of the general tactics used by a lot of people on a legit Contact page, so what’s the harm in adding one more trust me element, right?

Also, make sure the contact page doesn’t dissolve into oblivion, but instead should be placed either at the menu bar, or the top bar. So that it’s visible and accessible from all the pages of the site.

Privacy Policy:-

Privacy policies are kind of declarations to the users, about how well their privacy is protected on the site and stuff like that.

No, you don’t need to be a lawyer to write one, infact there are tons of Free onlinePrivacy Generator Tools to help you generate your privacy policy in minutes. So do make sure you generate and include a Privacy Policy on your latest web 2.0 link.

So, that was about the pages. So now, you know what type of content to get for your Web2.0 link, Where to get it from, and what pages to include. But still let me outline a basic infrastructure to simply the task for you:-

• 10-12 Posts revolving around the niche and keyword. 500-700 words each.
• All the 3 important pages.
• LSI keywords in the posts, so that Google knows what your post is about exactly.

Selecting the URL

This is one of the most important steps, say for eg. I am targeting a keyword “Blog Promotion Strategies”, so, I’d go for a diversified URL selection.

Why? It’s the same as using an anchor-text. Using the same keyword in the domain for all the links will definitely trigger a Spam Alert for Google, so instead diversify the URL, keep it centered around the focus keyword but not exact.

Using the same keyword again and again is a clear sign that you’re doing it only for the sake of backlinks, and Google hates self promotions. ( Unless ofocurse you’re paying it thousands of dollars for it’s adwords program).  So, using a diversified selection of links keeps Google off your scent.

Say, you’re going for blogpromotionstrategies.blogspot.com on Blogger, then going for something like promoteyourblog.tumblr.com on Tumblr is a good option. What I mean to say is, going for a variation of keywords for each web2.0 for a certain keyword is a good idea.

Here’s an example of a good, diversified URL selection:-

• Promoteyourblog.blogspot.com
• Blogpromotionstrategies.blogspot.com
• Growyourblog.jimdo.com
• Bloggingtactics.weebly.com ( broader keyword )
• getmoreblogpostshares.tumblr.com ( extremely specific keyword:- More post shares )

Something like that, so Google will figure out the central idea behind the post and you’ll be netting a lot of organic traffic.

Utilizing the Title and Description:-

Almost all web 2.0’s let you create your unique Title and description. And utilizing them properly is one of the main aspects to ensure that your 2.0 will survive.

First of all, select the Title. It ofcourse can exactly be the same as your URL.

Secondly, carve out an unique description for the blog, something that sounds legit. Something that gives off the scent that the owners are damn serious about it, and that totally depends upon your creativity.

Although you can also use this template:-  If you last search was [your keyword], then you’re at the right place. This is definitely the last place you’ll need to search in.

Populating the 2.0

I’ve already covered that you should be using more then just text on the 2.0 right? Images and stuff? Well, there’s actually a lot more you can include in order to make Google and the users fall in love with the content.

It’s not important to waste your time and money getting articles written, infact use any of the below content types to populate your 2.0

Infographics:- They are one of the best ways to put in lot’s of content, in the form of an image, and that too in the shortest possible span of time. You don’t need to go about creating infographics, no, you can just write a short description of 100-150 words and include an infographic from some other site, ofcourse with proper credits to them.

Quotes:-  Quotes are one super awesome thing about filling a site with content. If you’re writing a review on something, and if there’s a famous quote or something about it do include it on the site. Yes, its not easy to get quotes for every niche, but if you do, then don’t miss out.

Videos:- They take 30 seconds to be embedded, and actually increase your sites size and authority for google a lot. Just get to YouTube, integrate a video from there down to your site, and a site with Good videos, is definatley something Google is gonna love. No it doesn’t checkout the video itself, but this variation helps Google decide the site’s seriousness.

How often should you post on the 2.0 site:

It’s not something fixed by anyone in the world, but considering expert guides and reviews I’d say two posts per month on each 2.0 is more then enough.

Ofcourse you don’t need to bother yourselves with logging in and posting every month, instead just spend 5-6hours a day on each 2.0 keyword network, ( meaning all the site’s for that keyword), and schedule 2 posts on each 2.0 for the next 2-3 months. You’ll maximum need to write 2000-2500 word articles to get 4-5 articles, now just schedule them, most platforms allow scheduling so that shouldn’t be a problem.

How to Write a Web2.0 Article [Complete Guide]

• Specific topic:- Another aspect to keep in mind is that, you don’t deviate from the topic. For eg. you should remember it’s a web2.0 site and not exactly your money site, so covering upper or lower topics isn’t the best idea, instead be extremely specific. For eg if writing about Apollo Tyres, write only and only about Apollo Tyres, this gives a strong signal to Google that the article is strictly about that specific topic.
• Image optimization:- I do it even for my long term blogs, and it works out pretty great. Images do contribute a big part of your Organic Search hits, so don’t miss this out.
  • Use the Primary Keyword for the image name when you’re creating it or downloading from Google.
  • Also, make sure it’s properly Alt Tagged, If you’re reading this article about Web2.0 sites I’m pretty sure you know what Alt Tags are, so just make sure that you optimize the images with proper keyword alt tags.
• Authoritative Linking:- While writing an article, always try to find something related to it on Authority sites which I mentioned above. Or, try to find a quote, or data/ chart that you can use on your article from such Authority sites, and then you can link to them in the article.
• Linking:- It’s always a good option, to link to yourself in the first paragraph, just like Keyword optimization, links also need preference so make sure you link to your money site in the first paragraph if possible, but don’t over-do it, do it only if it’s looking natural.
  • Internal Linking:- Don’t miss this out, do link to your 1-2 articles on the same site, it’s important.
  • Anchor Text Variation:- Yes, it’s one of the direct ranking metrics. If you pass all the link juice from the same anchor text, you’re gonna get hit really bad. So instead, carve out a variation in the anchor texts. So if you have 10 web2.0 sites for a certain keyword, use 2 For exact match anchor text ( like for Blog promotion strategies, using the exactly same keyword), 3 for LSI keywords ( eg. Get More Shares) and the rest 5 for generic keywords, like Click here, Read the article etc.

Boosting the 2.0 for more authority:

This is what Jacon Acidre, from AKisertheSage says about link building:

“Don’t build links to rank for a keyword. Build links to improve domain authority and so as to rank for all your targeted keywords.”

And that’s exactly what you should be targeting if you’re going for web 2.0’s.

Now you’ve built your 2.0’s, and you’e filled in the proper content. But, would it just gain all the authority and link juice out of the blue? No it won’t, for that you have to work a bit, you have to give it the authority and attention which it deserves, and then it’ll pass out a stronger link juice to you as a return gift.

So, how to make your web2.0 stronger? First of all, try to create sub-2.0’s for the 2.0’s you just created. I mean, create other 2.o’s, follow the same procedure from above, and link to these primary 2.0’s. Yes this works. So, if you create one 2.0 site for a keyword, create other 4-5 web2.0 sites, and outlink to the primary 2.0’s you created, it’s like you’re creating 2.0’s, for 2.0’s.

The third is, get social signals for your 2.0’s as well. So, in order to get a good reputation over social media, you need unique and good content, see ? That’s the reason I was focusing on it, so once you do have good content, get it shared and re-tweeted as much as possible, yes people always like good content no matter which kind of domain it is, so try to get it noticed over social media.

Now that should increase the strength of your 2.0’s, and overall the strength of the total link juice passed to your money site.

Securing your Footprints:-

By now, almost everything has been covered, the one thing left is the Site list where you can curate web2.0 site links, and that I’ve included below this section. So all you need to do is, signup and start ranking.

But before that, it’s good to mention that, while signing up on these services, use different and new Email Id’s on each service. And save the logins to a Notepad File, or Excel maybe, so that you don’t loose it.

It’s called securing the footprints, so that you don’t give away the fact that a single guy has been creating all of these links. It’s vital in order to look natural, so make sure you follow each and everything described above and there shouldn’t be any problem for you.

Web2.0 Sites List

Okay so I’ve covered almost every possible thing out there for Web2.0 creations, now here’s a Simple list of 10  Web2.0 sites you should go about creating your links on Right now.

Wrapping it up:

So that was about it, I’m guessing I’ve answered almost every vital question you might have about Web2.0’s. I’m sure you have heard the buzz that it doesn’t work anymore, let me assure it, it most certainly does, all of it depends upon your creativity and intellect to make it work.

Although, it should not be extensively used, as there always are mistakes you might make unintentionally, which Google might recognize and you might be penalized, but using it occasionally with a bit of hardwork to rank the important posts is definitely is the way to go.

I’d like to hear your questions, (If you still have got some), or just your feedback if this post helped you out. Till then Signing out.

How To Make Search Marketing Work For You

In the world of marketing, it’s easy to separate out the different ways of reaching your target audience, says Adthena regional director Steve Anderton.

This is especially true when it comes to digital marketing, where breakneck developments in the industry have forced people to become specialists in order to master their own particular area. There are two main areas where brands have typically focused their efforts.

The first, search engine optimisation (SEO), goes back to the earliest days of search engines like Google, when companies developed smart tactics and ways to game the system, to make sure their own pages came up top of the search listings.

As the web, and they way people use it, has changed, search engines have become ever harder to manipulate, forcing SEO techniques to evolve as well, into a complex discipline focused on improving the quality of results, with high-value content and reputation-boosting links.

The other key area is pay-per-click advertising (PPC), the method whereby companies pay in a blind auction for their adverts to appear at the top of search results. This is done by preparing ads, and choosing which search terms they want these ads to appear for, bidding on these terms against competitors, with a complex system of spend and ad quality affecting where the ad ultimately appears.

Over the years, ads have grown increasingly complex with extensions such as images, reviews and contact details, while many marketers rely on competitive intelligence to search out the most successful keywords and monitor rival’s infringement on their own brand.

While these two digital marketing disciplines have diverged, research has shown that brands can derive huge benefits from working to combine the two areas, whether it be achieving higher traffic, greater activation, or improving return on investment.

Communication is Key

It’s fairly common practice, especially in larger businesses, for marketing departments to split up their digital teams along SEO and PPC lines. In fact, in some companies, these teams can be based in different offices, or even outsourced to entirely separate agencies, making for some pretty big gaps to try and overcome.

The first step for any firm looking to bridge these gaps is to open the lines of communications, with a coordinated set of goals as the main objective. While the individual outcomes each side may be chasing can be specific, the overall targets, ultimately the aims of the business, are one, and SEO and PPC teams can work collectively to deliver them.

Big Up the Brand

Research into the shared impact of PPC and SEO shows that many brands have a lopsided approach to their search engine marketing (SEM), with one side becoming dominant, while the other languishes behind.

It’s a symptom of a lack of communication, but there is typically one area where the keywords possess a strong share of voice in both PPC and SEO – a business’ own brand terms.
While it may seem straightforward that you perform well on your own brand terms, this isn’t necessarily a given, and in the cut-throat world of SEM, there’s no room for complacency. In PPC, marketers need to ensure they’ve covered their terms comprehensively and regularly check the cost they’re paying for each click (their CPCs).

A higher rate could show they’re battling someone else in the blind bidding process. Investing in competitive intelligence can also help show who may be competing on your brand terms.
In SEO, it’s key to make sure all metadata around the content is in place, including all descriptions, images, tags; each has a place in ensuring the site is visible and ranked appropriately. A brand is intangible, but it’s also one of the most valuable things a business owns.

Think ahead, but not too far

When the lines of communication have opened between PPC and SEO, and they have common objectives in mind, the two sides can begin to collaborate.

In the PPC market, the constantly-moving list of competitors, the scope of the ad copy being used, and the blind auction system as a whole, means that in order to stay ahead, marketers have to act fast and move quickly. Being able to react to changes and seize the initiative when the opportunity comes is key to achieving any success.

SEO teams, often working with legacy sites, have traditionally been playing the long game – carefully curating their content, monitoring links, tailoring their quality and adapting to the incremental updates of the major search engines. Both sides can learn a lot from the other, taking on another point of view that can inform and benefit their own side – PPC can learn the value of sustained campaigns and continuity, while SEO can pick up the art of adaptability.

Marketing is a broad church and there are many niches which brands can explore to find their own successes. However, when it comes to search engine marketing, specialisation can help you know more, but it is collaboration that can help you achieve more.

An important digital marketing tactic

For owners of businesses, brands, companies and blogs who sell goods and services to customers, it's normal to hear the phrase "put your best foot forward".

For owners of businesses, brands, companies and blogs who sell goods and services to customers, it's normal to hear the phrase "put your best foot forward". It means giving the best of what you have in order for target customers to find your goods or services easily.

It is the dream of every business to be among the initial consideration set of target customers, and this can only happen when your products are findable and accessible.

Since the Internet has become a market place where millions of people do a billion and one things every day, it is sensible to make sure your products are found easily online if your goal is to make profit while gaining more customers.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one sure way business owners, companies, organizations and blogs can make whatever they sell findable online to their target customers who are digital literates. The medium through which these searches happen are called search engines.

These search engines use closely guarded formula or procedures to determine which result will be displayed. The practice of search engine optimization is simply as a result of determining the factors these procedures consider before a result can be displayed.

What is SEO?

According to Quirk "It is the practice of optimizing a website to achieve the highest possible ranking on a search engine results page (SERPs)." An SEO professional is called an SEO (search engine optimizer).

Although many search engines do not disclose the elements they use when ranking pages, many SEO practitioners spend their time analyzing different applications in order to try determining what these are.

According to popular SEO consultant Nonoy Avellanosa, Google uses more than 200 different factors in its procedures simply known as algorithms to show pages in terms of relevance and ranking ( Avellanosa, 2012).

SEO can be divided into two different parts:

• White hat SEO
• Black hat SEO

Black hat SEO means when practitioners try to play games with search engines by using questionable methods to achieve high rankings on these search engines. Websites caught practicing this kind of SEO are usually blacklisted by search engines.

White hat SEO is a complete opposite of black hat SEO. This is when practitioners adhere to the rules set by these search engines in order to optimize a website for a better user experience (UX). While sticking to search engine rules, optimizers should ensure users can find what they are looking for so in turn search engines will send users to websites with best results that matches their needs and wants.

As users try to find what they are looking for, search engines make sure users get best results by looking for signals of:

• Relevance
• Importance
• Trust
• Popularity
• Authority

SEO in itself is a natural or organic optimization of a website to get ranked high on search engines when selected key phrases are imputed by users online. It can be split into two strategies:

• Off-page optimization: This covers activities like social media and PR. It is focused on building links to the website.
• On-page optimization: It is all about making changes to the HTML code, structure and content of websites whereby it is made more accessible for search engines to pick up which in turn makes find ability online easier for users. (HTML - hypertext markup language tags are used in the structuring of information and features within a webpage).

For business owners, brands and companies, SEO is a very effective way to generate new business to your site. It is a continuous process which involves constant thinking of how search engines view your website and how users can use these search engines to find your website.

At RDM, we aid our clients in putting their best foot forward using genuine SEO tactics to grow their businesses.

My Cheat Sheet: An SEO Manager's Go-To Digital Marketing Tools

There are many all-inclusive lists out there of every SEO tool imaginable, and I fully recommend checking those lists out.
However, the role of an SEO manager is quickly expanding and adapting as they are asked to take on a bigger role in digital marketing.
Throughout my years of experience I’ve honed down my go-to list of tools for each area of my job to improve my efficiency and effectiveness.
While this list certainly doesn’t represent every tool out there, these are the tools I’ve found to be most beneficial.

Keyword Research

Keyword research has gotten more complicated, but it remains a foundational tool not just for SEO, but content marketing and lead generation as well.

• Keyword.Io (Free): Keyword.IO is a free tool that provides a much more comprehensive list of keyword ideas (especially long-tail) than Google Adwords’ keyword planner. Once the full list is compiled, Keyword.io allows you filter results by certain combinations, and download a .txt file of the keywords you decide to select.
• Ahrefs Keyword Explorer (Free and Premium Options): After pulling a list from Keyword.IO, I’ll hop over to Ahrefs’ Keyword Explorer to pull additional keyword ideas. This keyword planner provides a traffic estimate for each keyword, but I’ve found Google Adwords Keyword Planner is still the best resource for pulling traffic estimates.
• Moz Keyword Difficulty Tool (Premium): Once I’ve pulled a full list of keywords and gotten traffic estimates from Google Adwords, I pull a keyword difficulty score. This assigns a numerical value to how competitive a keyword is and provides an analysis of the top 10 search results for that term.

Goal Tracking

• Industry Stats (Free): While data-driven marketing is generally acknowledged as important to a marketing team’s success, setting marketing goals is easier said than done without a previous benchmark to go off of. HubSpot provides a full list of Industry Stats, from average click through rates to the types of leads that make the largest purchases, that gives marketers a jumping off point as they hone goals to their individual industry.
• Google Analytics Event Tracking Code Builder by Raven (Free): Whether you’re an agency without access to a client's’ CRM or are working within a heavily siloed organization, Google analytics event tracking provides a method for to you to see if the hard-earned traffic you’ve been building to the site is actually behaving in a way that’s beneficial to the business. Raven’s tool helps you to easily create the code snippet based on the type of event you’d like to track. Also note, you can select whether the event should count as a second interaction on the site thus reducing the bounce rate on the page.
• Bit.ly (Free): Most marketers have probably heard of and used Bit.ly at some point, but it is good for much more than tracking clicks on social media posts. If event tracking isn’t an option, use a bit.ly link on your CTAs in blog posts, SlideShares and infographics to measure the content’s impact beyond traffic and social shares.

Content Creation

• People per Hour (Free Account): While mass-order content sites like Textbroker can work great for certain industries, I’ve found the article quality to be much too low for the high-tech sector. People per Hour, on the other hand, allows you to vet individual writers (such as making sure they’re a native English speaker or have a college education.) The prices are still reasonable, but the quality has been consistently higher.
• Typeform (Free and Premium): If you don’t have your own design team at the ready to create quizzes, contest forms and landing pages, Typeform can help you to quickly create nice-looking content. The free version allows you to create unlimited content and either design your own theme or use one of the pre-existing templates. The paid version allows for more sophisticated features, such as calculating a score or using a logic jump.
• Title Generator (Free): Whether you’re needing a massive list of content ideas or are simply looking to hone in on the perfect title for that keyword-optimized, destined to drive large traffic numbers piece of content, the Title Generator from tweak your Biz will give you hundreds of ideas to build off of divided into article-type categories.
• Makerbook (Free): Makerbook is an image directory that provides free icons, graphics, fonts and even video.
• ShareLink Generator (Free): ShareLink Generator allows you to quickly create code for “Tweet This” buttons within the body copy of blog posts and landing pages.

Web Optimization

• Ayima Redirect Path Chrome Extension (Free): Whether you’re completing a site audit, or monitoring a site’s health, this extension is wonderful for quickly following redirect chains and identifying incorrect redirects.
• Screaming Frog (Free and Premium): For the more extensive site audit, Screaming Frog is the best crawler I’ve found. It was recently updated to connect with Google Analytics, so it can provide even more insights on how on-page changes are impacting traffic numbers. Use Screaming Frog to quickly identify duplicate content, missing title tags and meta descriptions, internal links and more.
• Usabilityhub.com (Free and Premium): Usabilityhub is a web design and functionality testing platform. It operates as an exchange, so for every small test a user completes, he or she receives a credit that can be used to purchase testing. There is also an option to purchase credits. This is useful for testing a new site design or seeing if the right messaging is coming across. You are also able to reject any responses that are poor quality or spam.
• HRefLang Sitemap Tool (Free): This is another simple tool for quickly generating a sitemap with international targeting.
• webpagetest.org and PageSpeed Insights (Free): Site speed is continually growing in importance both for SEO and the overall user experience. Use these two tools together to get a breakdown of what is causing your site to lag.

Personal Efficiency

• Send and Archive (Free): Keeping the email inbox clear is quite possibly one of the biggest challenges of the modern era. Send and Archive is an add-on within Gmail that allows you to reply to an email and archive it at the same time. To access, go to Gmail’s settings and scroll down under the “General” tab and select to show the “Send and Archive” button.
• Streak (Free): Streak is an extension that allows you to schedule messages for later (similar to Boomerang only without the limit of 10 messages/month.) It also allows you to create templates for those repetitive weekly emails.

3 Ways Local Search Will Explode in 2016

Local search is going to be huge in 2016.
We saw last year how Google decreased its Local Pack (the group of featured business pages that show up in the SERPS). The switch from 7 local results to the new Google 3 Pack made serious waves in the SEO industry and small businesses everywhere. And that’s just the beginning.
Things are heating up, and they’re all set to boil over this year. A number of rising factors suggests that local search in 2016 should deserve your complete attention. Because now more than ever before, you have to meet the increasing demands of mobile users.
Trust us—this is something you do not want to miss.

Why You Should Focus on Local Search in 2016

Mobile is moving up in the world. Users continue to spend the majority of their total online time on mobile—51% compared to 42% on desktop as of last year. Why the steady increase? It’s easy to assume that it’s just because more people are using mobile devices like smartphones. But that doesn’t explain why you should focus so much on mobile this year. You need some real reasons.
Of course, you don’t really need an excuse to make your site the best it can be. But if that’s not enough, here are the 3 major reasons to focus on local search in 2016 based on recent news and trends:

#3: Wearable devices. As if we needed another reason to distance ourselves from desktop search. Wearable devices like the Apple Watch are becoming more than just conveniences; they’re becoming fashion accessories. Customers are asking Siri, Cortana, and whomever else to help them find the closest burger joint, nearest gas station, etc. A haptic feedback feature tells the wearer exactly where and when to turn to locate their destination. With that kind of power at the customer’s disposal, your business info MUST be kept up to date if you want to be found.

#2: No more Google Location tool. By December last year, pretty much every SEO company noticed that Google removed its Location search tool. The implications for this are huge: Google is now only—or mostly—showing local results to search queries. This shift away from global search results means many of your key terms may suddenly have a lot less reach. For example, “SEO company” is a pretty general term, while “San Diego SEO company” is more location-focused. This poses a potential problem for businesses that serve on a global scale (like ours), as it means users who search for “SEO company” may only get results based on what’s close-by.
If your business doesn’t have an actual brick-and-mortar location, the removal of this tool may cause some serious issues for your bottom line. And with only a 3 Pack to work with, you’ve got to vie for the top ad spots to make sure you stay on top of competitors.

#1: Google’s continuing focus on User Experience. No surprise here—Google is continuing its focus on better UX into 2016. And considering how many users are now on mobile, that experience had better be pretty dang good. We saved it for last on this list because, despite Google’s efforts, user experience is still something many websites aren’t prioritizing. It seems almost too simplistic, too vague—but that’s exactly why it’s still being overlooked. Your mobile site must first and foremost serve the user and make it as easy as possible to find what he or she needs. That means your site has got to be fast and informative.

How You Can Improve Your Local Presence

So how do you get into the Google 3 Pack? How do you get users to find and choose your company over the others out there? You have to take advantage of the changes we’ve already seen. And you have to get started now.Luckily for you, there are 3 simple steps you can take. Implement them right away, and your business will benefit. Here’s what you can do:

3. Verify your business on Google My Business. Yes—you need to have a Google My Business account, even if you already have a website. Just like submitting your robots.txt file is a step you need to take to get indexed, putting your info in Google My Business is essential for your business info to show up on Google’s Web results, Maps, and Google+.
Be sure to also tie in your Google+ account to Search Console. This way all your platforms will be tied together, ensuring all the latest info is up to date.

2. Get more Google reviews. Five-star reviews and accompanying short blurbs that show up on the local search results can be great for increasing your website’s clickthrough. But you shouldn’t just write them yourself. You could, sure, but it’s a heck of a lot less work (and far more gratifying) to simply ask your clients. If they’re happy with the work you’ve been doing—and why wouldn’t they be?—more often than not they’ll be happy to write you a glowing review. Whatever they have to say will be a thousand times more honest than if you had written the review yourself.
1. Add location schema. Location schema and the Place type allows Google to easily add your business’s info to the search results. You can include your address, business hours, and even your geographical coordinates to make it easy for anyone to find you. Schema is a great idea in general because it helps Google understand what kind of site it is. Great when a repeat customer is trying to remember your business but can’t remember the name!

BONUS: Maintain your Facebook business page. Facebook recently launched its Professional Services page. Like Yelp or Angie’s List, this directory can help users search for a service by acting as international or local business listings. Will it replace Google as a primary search function? Maybe not, but it could prove a popular replacement, especially if it gets its own app. Enjoy it while it’s in beta; we’ll see how it develops.