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Relevance

Do You Speak Keyword?

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Most of us probably already know that keywords (not just those in metadata) make a difference in your search engine battle to the top (organic SEO), and through that, to the top of your potential customer's click list. It's absolutely not the only thing that matters, but it can make a huge difference in gaining an online audience. I see my web consulting customers making mistakes in this area often and have some great success stories, so it was time to write this reminder about gaining the keyword habit. I want you to learn to speak keyword to improve your organic SEO -- the "free" kind.

Keep keywords relevant.

Keywords should not be used carelessly in your attempts to gain organic search engine optimization (SEO). They should be clearly relevant to what you do. Relevance in this case means words that a customer would use to describe (and search for) your business. If you use industry terms that a customer might not use, then expect failure. Once a customer gets to your site, they need to be clearly rewarded with evidence that your business is truly relevant to their search terms. This payoff should include seeing those keywords again in your messaging as well in the overall context of your site. Good website design also means that the keywords should be fortified with strong "why-to-buys" -- #1 Provider of..., Best, Award-winning... and promotions -- Free introductory offer... so that the customer realizes that you are relevant and the best choice. Your goal is to prevent the dreaded click-back. Click-backs (clicking back away from your site to the search list to pick the next listing) are rejection and a lost sale.

Keep keywords consistent.

If your keywords seem to have Attention Deficit disorder, then they may be ineffective. Some core keywords should be consistently used throughout your site. A select set of keywords can be added to specific pages of your site to highlight its topic. Keep your total keyword list to no more than 5-7 words with a priority given to 2-3 keywords. Keep in mind that derivations of a word make them two different keywords -- rental vs. renting.

Keep your text readable.

Don't get carried away and bristle your paragraphs with keywords such that reading is uncomfortable. Not only will customers be ill-served, but also Google bots may consider it trickery and penalize your ranking. Read through your text and make sure that the text is clear and easily readable. Remember that keywords also should be in metadata that users don't always see (page tags: title, description, keywords; image tags: alt, title, etc.).

Speak keyword.

Make it a habit to throw keywords into everything that you write online. The entire Internet is searchable. so your social media Twitter tweets, Facebook status, LinkedIn status all should be rich in keywords about your business. Remenber also to include backlinks to your site to "bring them home" to your website to close the sale.

Monitor progress. Yours and competitors

Keep your keywords up-to-date and competitive. Remember that your competitors want to be number one in search rankings too and will be trying to beat you. Monitor which keywords are working (and which aren't) for your website AND your competitors'.

 

Online Video Growth & Advertising That Works

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I attended an eMarketer webinar today to get updated on the video advertising world. eMarketer CEO Geoff Ramsey spoke about "Online Video as the Internet and TV Converge". It has been a while since I lived it day to day as part of the AOL Video team. In a nutshell, here is what I learned. I'll paraphrase until I get the official preso from eMarketer with the details and then I will update this post with sources and clarifications.

An ANA / Forrester study found that 62% of marketers surveyed believed that the effectiveness of video advertising declines online. However, personal video recorder (PVR) usage is taking a wack at the traditional TV ad models.

Online video usage is growing, but has not yet eclipsed the broadcast video realm even with the most likely demographic, youth.

  • TV viewing averages a whopping 4.7 hours/DAY while online video averages <4 hours/MONTH.
  • 28% (studies range from 21%-44%) of online video viewers watch full length shows online. This is a big change over the last few years due to offerings such as Hulu (and AOL Video?).
  • Hulu, with over 38 million subscribers and growing, exceeds Time Warner Cable's audience at 34 million. Comcast and DirectTV still lead with 62M and 48M, respectively .

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Are you 90% Fluff &10% Gold?

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I was reading about the book "E-Myth: Mastery" on Amazon and came across this review. As I was reading it, I thought about how applicable the reviewer's thoughts were when applied to website effectiveness and web design. So many user experiences contain too much information and bury their "gold". Worse yet, there may be little "gold" at all, but a lot of fluff. This not only hurts your classic marketing: identity (brand, imagery) - purpose (what you do) - unique selling proposition (why you're better and needed), it also hurts your usability and Search Engine Marketing or SEO. First, let's read the review. Then I'll explain the connection.

This book is a natural buy if you, like me, have read E-Myth: Revisited and absolutely loved it. This book is full of invaluable information, however, it suffers from the greatest flaw ever - it is the most annoying and painstaking read ever!!!!!!!

Let me give you an example of what I mean by rewriting my first paragraph in this book's style:

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Are You Speaking Their Language?

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This joke (after the jump) that my Dad sent to me has been around the Internet a few times, so it's not clear to me who wrote it, but it's worth a laugh. More importantly, what it shows is that sometimes we can get caught up in jargon and stop actually communicating with our markets. Much of what I do is help clients to think through how to cater to today's behaviors and speak in relevant language that engages rather than alienates their audience. After all, what you want to do is start a welcome dialog with your market, not impose your way of thinking on them. However, it is equally important to know when using evolving terms and tools are important to receptiveness of your audience.

Regardless of what methods you use to connect with your audiences, are you using the words that they will understand and will resonate with them, per audience?

Are you using industry terms that some of your market doesn't know? If this is necessary, then explain the terms to those who might not know them.  As an example, a company a few years ago called their blogging tools "online journals" because they felt that their market wouldn't understand "blog". However, "blog" was defining a new experience that much of the target audience picked up quickly. The company appeared out of step with the market. Could they have used the word "blog" effectively?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is about relevance between what you do, what you say that you do and the terms that your target audience searches with to find what you do. Are you optimizing around their words or only your own? Does your site obviously reinforce the words that helped someone find you to validate relevance?

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Getting In The Path of Behavior

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We want to be meaningful.

In order to form ongoing relationships with customers, we need to be meaningful in their lives. Do we fit what they care about today? Are we in their daily routine or at least fit there? Do we speak in their language or our own? On my home page, I tell the story of my daughter's college: "A new college delayed putting in sidewalks, but did plant grass in the center of campus. They waited until they saw where the students had worn down the grass and then put sidewalks there. Online Marketers (or any marketer) can sometimes get in the habit of "putting in the sidewalks" without taking the time to see where the paths go."

When I heard this, it clicked for me that marketing, offline or online, is really about seeing where the paths go and putting ourselves and our message along those behavioral paths in a language that our prospects can understand. What are our prospects paths?

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The Words That Matter Change

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By now, you probably know that being found online has something to do with keywords and search engines and the interactions of these. Since I was close to the Google hive when I worked at AOL in Dulles, VA, I learned that this complex interaction is centered around one word for Google - "RELEVANCE". Sure, there are lots of tricks that "SEO" firms can play to simulate top relevance, but they will be fleetingly useful if you don't have sustainable relevance. If you are truly the most relevant listing for a certain set of keywords, then by all means Google wants you to be the ichiban (top one, number one, top dog, big honcho) listing. What set of keywords are right for your company and how you get them to work for you is unique to your business and a longer conversation, but the most important thought for today is that it is a never ending quest to keep up with evolving relevance. I came across the following diagram that shows how search dynamics have changed over the last few years for the blogging space. How might your keywords be changing?

Search Trend Analysis