Let Me Re-Introduce Myself

In case you have just started following this blog, I wanted to re-introduce myself.

I am a public relations and marketing professional born and raised in Cleveland who has a true passion for all things social, including media. I love to be out-and-about in a great city, but I also love finding new and exciting ways to stay connected, and digital and social media seems to be the best way to accomplish this. This medium provides all of us with the ability to connect with old friends, learn more about our favorite brands, and it also affords us the opportunity to communicate in an entirely different fashion, which is great.

Communication is an consistently evolving process, and digital media is the next step in its evolution.Throughout my nearly 10-year career in public relations and marketing, I have always been passionate about what is new and innovative in the industry. And right now, there is no hotter trend than social media. Whether it be Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or Kindle, I plan to explore and provide commentary on my thoughts on what is going on in the world of digital media. I will also bring attention to trends and hot topics in the industry and welcome your insights on the topic as well. I am looking forward to delving into social and digital media, and on this blog, I plan to flitter in with thoughts and perspectives on the digital media world in which we now live.

Swinging for a Top Search Engine Ranking

As I sit looking out the window at a dreary Cleveland day, I daydream about spring, and how I cannot wait to be out on the links enjoying one of my favorite things, golf.

Granted, I will spare you the details of my golf game (it’s not so great), but it did get me to start thinking about new clubs, new shoes and maybe a few new golf shirts. With this in mind, I wanted to do a little online shopping. And since I am currently in my Web Analytics and SEO class, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to compare search engine ranking results for some golf stores.

In this blog post, I will be looking at the SEO techniques certain companies employed in order to increase its ranking among four popular search engines. The companies I will analyze are the ones that appear first and at the top of the fourth page in a Google search. Golfsmith was first, and ranking in at number 40 was Golf USA Stores.

Why did Golfsmith rank so high, and Golf USA Stores rank lower? It is most likely because of each company’s search engine optimization techniques. In order for a company to rank high on Google, the following techniques must be employed: keyword usage in domain, body and tag, outgoing links, internal links, site freshness and more (Vaughns.com, 2007). Here is a complete listing of what Google looks for.

Based on other searches, here is what Google truly measures in ranking a site: links, domain age, click through rates, trends, fads, posting frequency and keywords.

Golfsmith does just this. The key words “golf store” is prominently placed in both the pages and the title of the site itself. Yet, the company does more than effective keyword usage. It has a highly integrated and linked site. In fact, according to SEO positions, a Web site dedicated to SEO strategy, the best way of increasing your search engine rankings is working to improve your Web site’s link popularity (seopositions.net, 2009). These include inbound links to social media sites as well as internal links on the site. In total, according to LinkScape.com, Golfsmith is linked to 50 domains and 121 links.

Internal linking is done extremely well on the Golfsmith site. There is a site map and then individual listings for the different links within the site. This makes the site appear to be frequently updated, which is appealing for search engines since they are looking for newer sites and content. In addition, the company also links to its Facebook and Twitter pages; thus increasing traffic and search engine placement.

In addition, Goldsmith also runs a monthly contest, which increases site traffic. See the success of the Goldsmith site here.

Golf USA fails at SEO for the following reasons. It does not include the keywords in the page title, or even the home page. One does not discover any links until clicking from a page on the home page. Links are buried, and there are not many inbound links to the site. Instead, there are internal links all to Golf USA locations throughout the country. In fact, according to LinkScape.com, Golf USA is only liked to 15 domains and 44 links. That is quite a difference from the number one spot.

Now that I saw how and why these companies ranked where they did on Google. I took this experiment to three other search engines: Yahoo, Bing and Ask. Golfsmith, with its strong SEO presence, ranked first on Yahoo and second on both Bing and Ask. This was to be expected because of the site’s strong SEO tactics that have been employed. What was shocking though was the ranking of Golf USA. While the company did rank 40th on Ask, the same ranking it had on Google, it was a strong nine on Yahoo and ranked fourteenth on Bing. Why is this?

The fact of the matter is that Bing looks at different factors than Google. According to the SEO Wizz blog, in an effort to increase presence on this search engine, a site needs to increase its domain age and target anchor percentage, or the percentage of backlinks that are anchored with your target keyword (seowizz.net, 2009). This may be why Golf USA is succeeding on Bing because Bing does not necessarily take into account the quantity or quality of the backlinks, just an overall percentage (seowizz.net, 2009).

Just as Bing differs from Google, so does Yahoo have its differences. According to Jim Karter’s blog on internet marketing, Yahoo takes the following factors into consideration:
· Correct HTML
· Fresh Content - Yahoo likes fresh content more than Google.
· More Links From Yahoo Sites
· Yahoo uses meta keywords tags for categorization of your site
· Yahoo gives more weightage to on-site SEO factors like title, headings, keyword-in-domain etc., than Google
· Yahoo prefers a keyword density little higher than Google
· Links from article directories
· More weightage to age of the site than Google
· Yahoo considers click-popularity also in SERPs (Karter, 2009).

Ask.com appears to take on the same characteristics of Google when it comes to understanding searches. http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=634

These factors demonstrate to me why Golf USA’s search engine rankings very so much, and why Golfsmith’s remain consistent. Essentially, Golfsmith optimized its site for all search engines, whereas it appears that Golf USA did not. Golf USA may want to go back and re-optimize its site, especially for Google, since that is the top search engine.

References
Vaughns.com (2007). Google Ranking Factors: SEO Checklist. Retrieved January 22, 2010, from http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/internet/google-ranking-factors.htm

Seopositions.net (2009). Increase SEO link popularity. SEO Positions Blog. Retrieved January 22, 2010, from http://www.seopositions.net/blog/seo/293/seo-link-popularity-create-top-ranking-sites-now.html

SEOWizz.net (2009). A Further Bing SEO Update. SEO Wiz Blog. Retrieved January 22, 2010, from http://www.seowizz.net/2009/06/a-further-bing-seo-update.html

Karter, J. (2009). Yahoo Search Ranking Factors. Jim Karter’s Blog. Retrieved January 22, 2010, from http://www.jimkarter.com/2009-08-27-yahoo-search-ranking-factors.html

A Wealth of Information

A wealth of information; that is exactly what Web analytics provides. From site visitors, to page views, to how users found a particular Web site, Web analytics reports contain critical information that can help marketers further a brand and gain insight into consumer behavior. This is one of the many reasons I find these types of reports, and essentially the power they hold, so fascinating.

According to an article posted on the Web Analytics Association Web site, “Web analytics (WA) are one of those things that everyone knows they need, but not always sure exactly what actions are called for in a given set of data” (Campbell, 2008). This is so true. When you think about it, what does it really mean to have so many visitors? If the majority of visitors are visiting a certain page, how can this help the business grow?

These questions can be answered by developing a strong Web analytics strategy. With the amount of information out there about a Web site, a strong strategy is crucial to understanding the meaning behind the statistics. In order for the information in a Web analytics report to be effective, consider the following when establishing a strategy:

• Understand the Website, why it was created and its overall objective
• What is important to key business units at a particular organization, and what information do they need to accomplish their jobs effectively (ZoomMetrix.com, 2009).

Once this strategy is established, a true understanding of Web analytics can be set in motion. Those using the report will be able to see the following: top keywords, referring domains, click paths, IP addresses, visiting trends, top landing pages, and conversion and bounce rates (Campbell, 2008).

Since a strategy has been developed, a marketing team can use this information as part of its overall marketing strategy. For example, this report can identify areas of focus for a company by identifying visitors (possible target audiences) and page views (a particular area of focus/topic a specific audience seeks). In addition, this reporting can also show a company if a particular page is not useful to its audiences, and it can go back and update the messaging or even eliminate the page.

But now that a strategy is in place, how do people find a particular site? This is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes into play, and SEO and Web analytics really do go hand-in-hand. SEO “means ensuring that your Web pages are accessible to search engines and are focused in ways that help improve the chances they will be found” (searchenginewatch.com, 2007). Since most individuals will find your site via a search engine, strong SEO is critical.

Keywords play a central role in having people find your site. By using common keywords frequently on a site, the site will be picked up by a search engine and will have a stronger presence (searchenginewatch.com, 2007). Linking to other sites will also increase Web presence and the positioning on a search engine keyword search. Have some keywords in mind for your site, but not sure how to select them? Here is a helpful chart http://searchenginewatch.com/2168021

There is one final component that I find interesting as it relates to Web data and SEO. This is the involvement of social media. In fact, on a PRSA-sponsored Web conference, it was stated that social sites now rival search engines as directors of Web traffic (2010).

As marketers are being tasked to do more with less [budget], many are moving to digital tactics, and this includes social media. The benefits for combining social media and SEO are great. They range from increased social network discovery via search to the ability to attract links for improved SEO (Odden, 2009). This can increase awareness of a brand through links on profiles, blogs and other social networks. By utilizing links and keywords in social media channels, a company/brand can attain higher rankings in search engine searches (Odden, 2009). Learn more on this topic here.

Web analytics and SEO is ever-evolving. It is a marketing tactic that, if done properly, can benefit a business. There will be new trends, but if one understands that it is strategic and keyword-based, they will find success.

References
Campbell, J. (2008). Using Web Analytics for SEO. Web Analytics Association Web site. Retrieved January 19, 2010, from http://www.webanalyticsassociation.org/en/art/508/

ZoomMetrix.com (2009). Executive Dashboard - Effective Web Analytics Reporting. ZoomMetrix Blog. Retrieved January 13, 2010, from http://www.zoommetrix.com/reporting/executive-dashboard-effective-web-analytics-reporting.html

Searchenginewatch.com (2007). Intro to Search Engine Optimization. Search Engine Watch Blog. Retrieved January 19, 2010, from http://searchenginewatch.com/2167921

PRSA Seminar (January 19, 2010). Finding the Perfect Social Media and Communications Blend: How to Break Down Walls and Strike a Balance Between all your Online Lives.

Odden, L (2009). Social Media and SEO: 5 Essential Steps to Success. Mashable Blog. Retrieved January 18, 2010, from http://mashable.com/2009/04/15/social-media-seo/

And the Journey Continues...

Nearly six months ago, I embarked on a journey. A journey that would not only provide me with a more in-depth view of an emerging trend in the marketing communications world, but one that would also challenge me as a communications professional. This journey is the Digital Marketing Communications (DMC) program at West Virginia University. And after two courses, one introducing me and my three classmates to the topic and another focusing on social media, I believe I have gained a wealth of knowledge, and I am looking forward to the next step in the journey: a nine-week concentration on Web analytics and search engine optimization (SEO).

As a public relations professional with a decade of experience, the industry has definitely changed, or maybe I should say, evolved. When I started my career in 2000, the Internet was just beginning to play a major role in how we communicate with audiences. In fact, I was still faxing press releases and doing fax blasts. E-mail campaigns were just gaining momentum and numerous organizations were just starting to create Web sites. We were still grasping to understand what the Internet held and its capabilities. We may have been wondering if this was just a passing fad.

Fast forward 10 years, and we are in an entirely different world. We are in a digital world, and within this world we are discovering faster ways to disseminate a message; new technologies that have simplified life; and a culture that wants to be able to retrieve information on any topic imaginable with the click of a mouse.

This is an exciting and challenging time to be working in marketing and communications. Exciting because of all that is now available to us. Challenging because we are tasked with understanding these technologies and how to best use them. But I am ready for this challenge, and I look forward to learning more about Web analytics and SEO in the coming weeks. I know there is more to it than visitors to a site and page views. The knowledge that awaits in this course will be welcomed, embraced and applied to my daily work life.

So let the journey continue…