Archive for the ‘SEO’ Category

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If Google Doesn’t Optimize their PDFs, Why Should You?

Thursday, July 26th, 2007

Before we answer that, let’s see what is going on. Below you can see that when I searched for PDF files on Google’s search engine with the word technology you can see the file I was looking for as the 2nd result. Where does the title (the first line in purple) come from?

By clicking on the link I get the PDF file shown below. You can see that the title shown in the search engine was taken from the heading on the first page.


 

Google didn’t bother to fill out the title field in the PDF. The title field is shown below.

 

Google can get away with doing this because they are careful about using good headings. Can you also get by without bothering to fill out the title field?

It depends. If you have a good heading then you can skip the title field. However, if the title is a graphic, or if it doesn’t accurately describe the content, or if you are missing keywords you can do one of two things to rectify the situation:

  1. Change the heading to reflect the content, add your keywords and make sure the heading is not a graphic
  2. Add a title tag to the PDF. This is easily done if you have the proper software (Adobe Acrobat for example)

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English Global Search Engine Marketing Keyword Strategy

Monday, June 4th, 2007

Most people realize that different languages demand different keywords and strategies. However, English is a special case. It is now the de facto international language leaving Esperanto in the dust.

Not everyone pays enough attention to the fact that English is used differently by different users. There are more second language English speakers than native English speakers in the world Their use of English is different than native English speakers. There are also many different English dialects. North American English and British English are the most well known. Consider these examples where the first term is used by Americans and the second by the English:

Consider the following factors when working on an English Global Search Engine Marketing Strategy

  • Use of different words to describe the same thing by different people
  • People who know English as a second language have a tendency to make more typos and spelling mistakes when they search for keywords.
  • People who know English as a second language use less sophisticated searches – fewer keywords in the string and simpler words

All these factors should be taken into account when starting a Search Engine Marketing Strategy. Also, don’t forget to make sure your landing pages use simpler language for your visitors who use English as a second language.

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Can You Believe What You Read About SEO?

Sunday, April 15th, 2007

Before the advent of the Internet, one of advertising’s most famous sayings was:

“I know I waste half the money I spend on advertising,” department store pioneer John Wanamaker said. “The problem is, I don’t know which half.”

Many times I use this to demonstrate the advantages of internet marketing over the old methods. By analyzing log files it is relatively easy to find out which advertising campaigns are working. However I now have a new saying:

“I know that only half of what is written about search engine optimization is correct. The only problem is that most people don’t know which half”.

Can You Believe What You Read About the Keyword Metatag?

I recently ran across an interesting report on SEO ranking factors. Here you can see that many SEO leaders don’t agree on basic issues. However, one subject where there is high agreement is regarding the Keyword Metatag. – it is of slight importance.

However, when you read the comments it becomes obvious that there isn’t much agreement about anything except for the slight importance. Many people are not really sure how Google relates to the Keyword Metatag and say: I think…, Probably.., I don’t think…

Others are sure that Google does not look at them at all. However, I know for a fact that Google does look at them because I have seen them in the SERPs (search engine results page). This is a rare occurrence but it does show that this tag is not ignored.

What Can We Believe?

This just goes to show that the best approach is to test things for yourself. And realize that for different keyword spaces and competition levels, you need different strategies.

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When Not to Optimize 1-2 Keywords per Page

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

The rule to optimize for only 1-2 keywords per page has been repeated so often that it has become set in stone. Actually, some people say 2-3 and others say 3-4. I did a check in Google for: optimize page “1-2 keywords” -searching. I replaced the numbers each time and the one with the most sites turned out to be 2-3. If democracy is truth then 2-3 keywords is the way to go.

So is it best to optimize each page for 2-3 keywords?

The truth is that it depends on the competition, back links and the importance of the keyword.

For example, if there is very little competition, you can optimize for more keywords on a page. Even if you don’t get a top position for each keyword you can still get traffic if you have a visible position (a visible position is defined by how many positions your persistent clients are willing to consider before starting a new search).

If there is a lot of competition you may want to create a new page so you optimize less keywords on each page. However if you can’t justify the time, you can also create an ad very quickly on the search engines. It is usually faster to create an ad than an additional page which has to be optimized. The results are also more predictable. The disadvantage is that you must pay for every click and costs have a tendency to go up with time.

In many cases you may want to create a new page and an ad to show on the search engines. Make sure to test to see if your ads are cannibalizing your natural search positions.

A strategy for each keyword

Depending on the circumstances you may optimize existing pages, create new ones, run search engine ads or use a combination of the above. Don’t rely on conventional wisdom regarding the number of keywords to optimize for on each page. Every keyword needs its own strategy.

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