The audience was also treated to some great presentations by a couple of industry colleagues. Dan Olson focused on the importance of social media and blogging while Brent Payne covered a broad overview of SEO with some how-to’s for SEO research projects.

My talk was centered on keyword research and strategy, as well as page optimization and onsite SEO tips. You can download a copy of my slides here: http://chicagostyleseo.com/rod/presentation/2013.05.21-Presentation-EntraUnpluggd.pptx.

Thanks to Shelly Fayman, Tim Jahn, and all the attendees who kept things lively and informative. For even more information about SEO, feel free to peruse our blog as well as our many services.

The post Entrepreneur’s Unpluggd SEO Talk appeared first on Chicago Style SEO.

“Maybe I should’ve used some heading tags”

While not the most glamorous or talked about tool, good semantic markup serves to bolster the on-site integrity and stability of a webpage. Without proper XHTML tags, a lot of quality content will go unrecognized by web crawlers. And robots aren’t the only ones that will be left unimpressed. Savvy professionals visiting your site will notice the lack of optimized architecture, diminishing the site’s reputation.

With poor semantic markup the most popular, widely disseminated content and the most robust back-link profile will ultimately point back to a house with a patchy roof. Before setting out on extensive off-site Internet marketing strategies, be sure to get your house in order first, optimizing your website’s semantic markup and allowing your site to earn whatever organic traffic it deserves on its own merit.

Below are some useful resources with information and guides on how to master semantic markup.

Web Designers Suck at Semantic Markup

10 Ways Coding Can Help Your SEO

Designing For SEO

HTML Code & Search Engine Ranking Factors

4 Reasons It’s Time to Redesign a Website

Improving UX Through Front-End Performance

More Thoughts About Blockquotes than are Strictly Required

Using Semantic Markup To Strengthen Your Local SEO Efforts

13 Semantic Markup Tips for 2013: A Local SEO Checklist

The post Fortnight Feature No. 10 – Semantic Markup appeared first on Chicago Style SEO.

This isn’t breaking news. However, of the many incarnations of content marketing, guest blogging is one of the more complex, interesting techniques that has carved out a unique niche on the Internet.

Guest blogging contains all the benefits of run-of-the-mill, original content. It attracts new and repeat visitors, it increases social sharing opportunities, and it appeases the Google monster by feeding it fresh, relevant content to index.

The way it benefits from this last part, however, is different. Instead of earning Google’s trust by showing useful, updated content on your own website, you impress Google by publishing on other websites with links pointing back to your site. In effect, what you’re saying is “Hey Google, people like me.”

More than anything, however, guest blogging is about establishing relationships with other bloggers, and expanding your reach exponentially through their separate spheres of influence. By guest blogging effectively, you can contribute to your industry’s community, earning trust, making friends, and spreading your brand along the way.

Below are some useful articles and guides we uncovered during our two-week look at the topic of guest blogging.

5 Tips Guest Bloggers Can Take From Midwestern Values

The Importance of Guest Blogging for SEO Campaigns

5 Guest Blogging Considerations (Beyond Link Building)

Deciding Where to Guest Post

37 Secrets About Guest Blog Posts

Don’t Let Guest Posts Look Like Spam

Building Audience Through the Art of the Interview

The Golden Rule Applied to Guest Posting

7 Content Archetypes that Generate Natural Links

3 Quick Ways to Find Hidden Guest Blogging Opportunities

Content Creation Tips from Pam Slim

Why Google Plus Wants Every Business Blogging

Video: WRONG Ways to Ask for a Guest Post

The post Fortnight Feature No. 9 – Guest Blogging appeared first on Chicago Style SEO.

“American Blogger”

The heartland. Meat and potatoes. Fly-over country. Where the butter flows like water and the cows practically tip themselves.

Not a lot of folks automatically think of the Midwest as the nation’s tech center. But when it comes to how to approach Internet marketing, we could take a page from the traditional ethos of America’s breadbasket.

Recently, guest blogging has become the new, shiny play-thing in Internet marketing, which immediately gives me pause. Because let’s admit it – SEO’s have a history of being a little excitable. We get a fun toy and a bunch of us jump on it, eventually dragging it through the mud of something like keyword stuffing or spammy directories. Then it breaks, and it just isn’t the same anymore.

Time to get our knuckles rapped.

If you want to get the most out of guest blogging, you have to put aside slick city tricks and rely on some of those Midwestern values you always heard from Uncle Joe. Unlike a few things in Internet marketing, there are no short cuts to quality content marketing and guest blogging. Like shucking corn, it’s just plain, hard work…and we all know those blog posts aren’t going to shuck themselves.

1) Talk Straight

When pitching a guest post to a prospective publisher, always, always, always be honest and straight-forward. If you aren’t “an avid reader of their blog,” then don’t say that you are. Disingenuous marketers will always be sniffed out like foxes in a hen house.

Further, if you can address the person by name and write a natural, customized email, then do it.  As tough as it sounds, trash your boiler plates and always compose from scratch. This will force you to speak naturally, honestly, and directly to that specific person each time.

Even the most well-intentioned guest blogger can come across as a shyster if they mask their true voice with platitudes. Wipe that proverbial grease from your smile, and make sincere eye-contact across those interlocking Internet tubes.

2) Pitch In Like Everybody Else

So much of guest blogging is about relationships. At the other end of your efforts to post an article is a real person with their own real interests at stake. Foster this relationship and understand that you are working together towards a greater, shared benefit.

The moment you forget about this communal interest and start working for your own ends is the moment your success will plummet. It may be a jungle out there on Wall Street, but in the sun-dappled farmland of guest blogging, you rise and fall with the fortunes of your neighbors.

3) Quit Your Yammering

There is a thin line, if at all, between motormouths and dim-witted ninnies. Don’t take the risk. If you have nothing important to say, don’t say anything at all, except of course, “please,” “thank you,” or “pass the gravy.”

If you’re simply writing to refresh content or spread your brand far and wide, then your writing will suffer and your name will be attached to nothing but fluff and transparent filler. This will inevitably dilute your reputation and lower relevant traffic to your site.

Successful guest bloggers spend the time to write original, compelling, helpful articles and they are always willing to send their best work off-site to another blog.

4) Don’t Get Too Big for Your Britches

As Missourian Calvin Trillin once said, “the worst thing that could happen to a Midwesterner is to have someone tell your mother at the supermarket that you’ve gotten too big for your britches.”

With that in mind, small blogs are just as important as big, famous websites. Interviews with local industry leaders are just as valuable as “the big get.” Don’t be so proud that you can’t work graciously with your available resources. And from the other end of the table, remember that no one is obligated to publish your work, either.

Summary

Guest blogging is a tough nut to crack, and it’s even tougher if its toughness isn’t fully appreciated. What I’m saying is, it’s tough.

But if the majority of businesses and bloggers can keep these values in mind, then everyone will benefit from a well-governed, valuable community of writers that are spared from the ills of spam, fluff, and contention. A lofty idea perhaps, but one that’s worth a shot or else Google is going to take away all the benefits of this new toy.

In which case…

5) Take your lumps and don’t whine about it.

The End.

P.S. I’m awarding myself bonus points for not referencing “Field of Dreams” once in this entire article.

The post 5 Tips Guest Bloggers Can Take From Midwestern Values appeared first on Chicago Style SEO.

Advertising pays for much of what we enjoy. And sometimes, we even enjoy the advertising itself. With regard to social media, the former is definitely true. We’re still waiting for the latter to take shape.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media channels are all looking to expand and strengthen their core service to online communities, and yet so much of this depends upon their appeal to advertiser’s wallets. With their primary means of monetization resting in the hands of their advertising potential, a lot is at stake when it comes to its creative and practical integration.

The best businesses and advertisers recognize that we are in the midst of a media revolution. As the marketing ground shifts beneath our feet and everyone tries to figure out the best way to weave effective advertising into the social fabric of the Internet, those that pioneer the smartest social media advertising will securely position themselves at the top of the heap.

Below are some resources we uncovered during our two-week investigation of social media advertising. These should serve as an introduction in the various platforms, strategies, and issues surrounding the topic.

Social Media Ads

Paid Search Beyond Google

Native Advertising

Social Media Advertising for Small Businesses

Comparing Social Media Ad Platforms

Consumers Suspicious of Social Media Marketing

Effective Online Advertising

Social Media Ad News

New FTC Limits Lend Legitimacy

SEC Allows Shareholder Communication via Social Media 

Traditional Ads Influenced by Social Media Lingo

Social Media Ad Revenue to Double by 2016

Facebook

Facebook Ads Video Tutorial

Facebook Ads vs. Promoted Posts

Facebook News Feed Draws Criticism

Custom Audiences for Ad Targeting

Facebook Ad’s Subliminal Effect

FBX Retargeted Ads

Facebook Ads Done Right

Facebook Ads Done Wrong

Infographic – Facebook or LinkedIn

LinkedIn

Basic Guide to LinkedIn Ads

B2B Marketers and LinkedIn Ads

Guide to LinkedIn PPC Ads for 2013

Twitter

Twitter’s Improved Ad Tools

Twitter Reports Success of Promoted Tweets

Twitter Positioning to be Gateway via Mobile Apps

The post Fortnight Feature No. 8 – Social Media Advertising appeared first on Chicago Style SEO.

The old-hat notion that Google pays attention to meta keywords is based in reality—well, actually it’s based in ancient history (measured in Internet years). Google used to pay a lot of attention to meta keywords. However, too many people started stuffing the meta keywords with dozens (in some cases, hundreds) of keywords hoping to hit it big on the Google roulette wheel. Google had to stop paying attention to them because they were too often misleading as to what was really on the page. Google has moved on to far more sophisticated ways of judging what the content is on a particular page.

But this notion that Google will reward you if you put keywords in the right places is true…it’s just that too many people don’t seem to know where those places are. I’m here to solve that mystery.

Let’s Solve the Keyword Location Mystery

Google does pay special attention to keywords put into certain locations. There is, of course, debate as to the exact order of importance of these locations. And the Internet being the Internet, not only does the order of importance change, but so do the members of the list. However, as of April, 2013, this is a good rule of thumb to follow:

1. Keywords in the Domain Name

DON”T GO BUY A NEW DOMAIN!! GoDaddy does not need more of your money to make more of their “wonderful” commercials.

Yes, Google does look for keywords in domain names. This fact is what drove people to begin using domains like

But the days of “exact match domains” dominating the search results are over. It’s far better to brand your business in your domain. So bobscabins.com still gets you the word “cabin” in your domain as a base for your SEO.

So don’t drop your short, well branded domain name for some long monstrosity that has all your keywords in it. It’s helpful if you have one or two keywords in your domain, but it is no longer vital.

2. Keywords in the URL

Google does pay attention to keywords in the rest of the URL, and there are indications this is nearly as important as having them in the domain and is one of the main reasons #1 above is no longer vital. Instead of the long domain example above, getting important keywords into the rest of your URL is important. If your cabins are on Lake Googleota, it might be a good idea to occasionally get the name of the lake into your URLs for people looking for cabins on that particular lake. And it doesn’t have to be difficult to do; here’s an example of all it takes:

www.bobscabins.com/blog/gorgeous-sunrise-on-lake-googleota

Most CMS and blog systems give you the tools to make the end of the URL (called the slug) anything you would like.

3. Keywords in the Title Tag

Title tags are a small piece of HTML that do several important things: they show up in the browser tabs to let people know what content is in the tab…

and they play an important role in search results pages…

So for both the reasons above and because Google looks for keywords in your title tags, they are important pieces of text—make sure you spend some time thinking about the title; strong titles are very descriptive of the page and if it can contain some important keywords for you, all the better.

What keywords to go after? Don’t forget about long-tail keywords.

4. Keywords in the Headline

If your website was built well, you will likely have a headline on each page and that headline will be wrapped in a <h1> tag to let the search engine world know that it is the most important header on the page (as opposed to <h2> on down to <h6> headers). In the modern XHTML world, you can have more than one <h1> tag on a page, but for most websites one of these is all you need. And, Google pays attention to what keywords they find inside that headline.

5. Keywords in the Body

And, of course it’s a very good idea to have keywords in the body of your page. However, don’t spend time trying to stuff as many keywords onto a page as possible. Write naturally about the topic of the page and you will be fine. What Google does not like is the same keyword repeated over and over and over—a practice called “keyword stuffing” funnily enough.

Bonus: Where Keywords Don’t Matter!

There are places that it is well researched Google no longer pays attention to. The two biggest are meta keywords and meta descriptions; there is no need to spend time and effort on worrying about keywords in these locations. However, the meta description should still not be ignored because Google will often (not always) use the meta description for the two lines of black text in the search results. Given you can control the blue headline (via the title tag), the green URL, and also the two lines of black text, you are in a great deal of control of how your “ad” in the search results will look.

Bonus 2: What Keywords Should You Focus On?

Take a look at our post on long-tail keywords and also on keywords and the buying funnel to help you determine your keyword strategy.

The post Five Important Locations for Keywords appeared first on Chicago Style SEO.

During the previous couple dozen years, the wilds of the Internet have settled into something of an identifiable ecosystem. And it doesn’t come as any news that Google is at the top of that ecosystem, determining the behavior and relationships of others, like businesses and customers. In fact, you might say that the current relationship between businesses and Google looks something like this:

There is this weird, almost cute symbiotic relationship between Google and businesses. The crocodile snatches up a gazelle but needs clean teeth for its health, so he lets the birds in to help. Similarly, Google attracts tons of customers, but needs to monetize for its health, so it lets businesses in to pick at the straggling customers stuck between its teeth. Or something like that.

An important thing to remember, though, is that this is a more accurate metaphor than one that compares Google to an undisputed king of the land, impervious to dissent. Google is just as much a part of the online ecosystem as everyone else, and many of its decisions are motivated by this awareness. For every bird it smashes in its jaws for using bad SEO teeth-cleaning techniques, it risks upsetting the entire balance of the arrangement. If the businesses go elsewhere, Google’s health will suffer, and won’t be able to catch those water-grazing customers anymore.

So what have we learned?

1. Google and businesses have a strange, symbiotic relationship
2. Google is NOT the ultimate authority and is vulnerable to the same online ecosystem
3. It’s “Metaphor-Monday”
   

   Hey birdies, I’ll just be over here when you’re ready

Below is a list of resources we uncovered during our two-week investigation of search engines. And don’t mind Bing over there in the reeds. He’s just waiting for his turn.

Development

Google ad project unveils talking shoe

Researches break optical-fiber records

Google accidentally unveils Keep service

Bing Ads makes improvements

Google messaging platforms to unify

GIFs added to Google’s image search

Google’s Think Insights

Search Strategy

Google’s optimizing cheat-sheet

Google educates the public on search

Study: Penguin update getting stricter

Merchant quality to affect Google search rankings

Build author rank now

Panda to become real-time algorithm

News and Coverage

Will the real Google please stand up?

Tension at the top at Google?

Google kills Reader…and its RSS extension

Google privacy case settlement

Microsoft’s competitor-bashing isn’t a strategy

Google grabs more market share

Google Maps adds view from Mt. Everest

Google kicks out ad-blocking app

Virtual graveyard of Google products

Image sources:

http://pixdaus.com/egyptian-plover-pluvanius-aegyptius-cleaning-the-teeth-of-a/items/view/252543/

http://thedrcbytsl.blogspot.com/p/animals.html

The post Fortnight Feature No. 7 – Search Engines appeared first on Chicago Style SEO.

If you’ve recently walked down the street, been on the bus, or existed at all in public space, you’ve noticed that it’s a lot harder to make eye contact with people. Instead, you see the tops of their heads, as they piously crane their necks downward toward clasped palms. Such apparently widespread fealty is actually devotion of a different sort – to the glow of a smartphone screen.

Perhaps I’ve overdramatized the rapid adoption of mobile technologies, but the impact of mobile computing on daily life has been extraordinary. And while the phone became the first host device transformed by this technology, eyeglasses and watches are next in line (with shirt buttons and shoelaces surely not far behind).

Put bluntly, mobile technology will soon just be technology. Digital access will become so ubiquitous that the current novelty of highlighting the mobile variety will become redundant. Now that computers have crashed through the walls of our homes and offices, they aren’t about to return obediently to their desktops.

Give your business a head start by adapting to this new frontier now. Below are some useful articles and resources we uncovered while looking into the evolving state of mobile marketing and technology.

Studies

40% of Internet time on mobile

68% use mobile for email, 26% for shopping

Social and mobile gaming ads better than online formats

Mobile Strategies and Tips

General

Identifying the differences in mobile marketing

Mobile advertising ecosystem explained

Optimization

Mobile and tablet optimization

8 popular mobile SEO claims refuted

How mobile-optimized sites drive conversion rates

12 tips for optimizing mobile landing pages

PPC

Best practices for Mobile PPC campaigns

Migrating to enhanced campaigns

How to do mobile keyword research in 2013

Content

8 ways to adapt content marketing to mobile

Book Review: “Content Strategy for Mobile”

Mobile Products and Services

Amazon vs. Google: the mobile battlefield

Google+ sign-in for mobile

Infographic – Google’s mobile strategy

Google is re-imagining mobile advertising

Foursquare check-ins

Apple’s iWatch

The anti-iwatch argument

The mobile payment race

“Pass” on the Firefox phone OS

WebOS is dead

Android or iOS the biggest seller?

Facebook news feed learns from mobile

World-view

How mobile phones are used worldwide

White House supports cell phone unlocking

Mobile-only Internet users by country

Wall Street Journal on App makers targeting China

Infographic – Mobile Phones tackling poverty

* Image source: http://www.visualnews.com/2013/01/09/we-never-look-up/

The post Fortnight Feature No. 6 – Mobile Marketing appeared first on Chicago Style SEO.

Hey! Where’s everybody going all the time?

Mobile is the new frontier in all things technology, marketing, lifestyle – you name it. Just as they adjusted their marketing style from radio to television some 60 years ago, the smartest advertisers are devising new ways to adapt their message to this platform.

And just like the transition 60 years ago, there are some growing pains in figuring out how to change for the new medium. After all, human behavior with mobile phones is much different than with laptops and desktop computers.

By understanding how these behavioral differences impact search habits and webpage interactions, you can better optimize your site for the fastest-growing contingent of internet activity. So let’s break it down piece by piece.

How are Mobile Searches Different?

• Task oriented

Desktop computers still lend themselves well to in-depth research and involved projects. If someone has to research the Napoleonic Wars or write a business proposal with the aid of online resources, they will do so on a laptop (hopefully with a giant mug of coffee).

But people use their phones for more direct queries requiring quick, problem-solving answers. As on-the-go companions, phones are often relied upon to deliver instant solutions for everything from product searches, stock prices, or game scores. They are even used to resolve factual arguments and to cheat at pub-trivia.

As a response, your mobile site should be able to provide the most essential information  as a primary feature. Optimize your mobile SEO for keywords that point to helpful answers and necessary information about your business. For instance, blogs tend to serve long-tail keywords, while broad keywords tend to live on static pages. Strengthen those static pages for your mobile search optimization.

• Environment-sensitive

The most unique thing about mobile phones is, well, their mobility. Searchers are therefore influenced much more by their changing environment. They can be prompted to search for nearby restaurants, store hours, local activities, or other environment-sensitive information. It’s good practice to include area-specific keywords for your mobile site so it can compete with a smaller, more relevant group of search terms.

Local SEO is important on all devices, but the ability to show up on someone’s phone when they search for “nearby business X” is incredibly important as these searchers are likely in the last stage of the buying funnel. In other words, they’re looking to buy right now. If you don’t appear on their radar during this 30-minute span of their active hunter-gatherer mode, then you’ve left money and lots of future business on the table.

• Less complex

See if you can tell which search query was from a laptop and which was from a mobile phone:

1) “how to prepare braised pork shoulder with apple cider”

2) “braised pork”

As stated earlier, desktop computers inspire much more involved, research-based inquiries while phones prompt the quick-and-dirty solution or all-inclusive list. Very few are willing to conduct extensive searches on their phones, which are seen as convenient resources for instant information.

Long tail keywords should be reserved for desktop devices while broader (or simpler) terms should be used for mobile SEO. And if you’re worried about your broad keywords not faring as well against the increased competition, you can pair them with geographically specific keywords to shrink the competitive pool while simultaneously taking advantage of mobile’s primary asset.

• Intolerant of obstacles

A mobile searcher is dealing with multi-tasking, a small screen, and a predisposition for instant results. For these reasons, any mobile website that presents an impediment of any kind will be abandoned very quickly. Designing your site to be intuitive, easy-to-use, and simple will help retain your mobile visitors. With such a low tolerance for confusion and obstacles, mobile searchers need a sparse, straightforward interface that is instantly relevant to their query – and if it’s not relevant, a clear path to a page that is.

In summary

When optimizing your site for mobile search, the key is to understand how and when people use their phone for the web. Figuring that your existing website and SEO should suffice for a mobile platform will not only limit your business now, but will also doom your business later when mobile becomes the new standard. Shifting your mobile strategy around these variables will help you get a jump on the frontier’s landscape, turning you into an old hand by the time others are scrambling to adjust.

The post Keeping up with Mobile Marketing appeared first on Chicago Style SEO.

The Facebook table got all the tater tots

Thought you left high school behind? It doesn’t seem like it when choosing a social media platform feels a lot like finding a seat in your old cafeteria.

With the ongoing push towards content marketing and social outreach, it can be difficult to know where to begin. As a business, it’s important to not rush into it, and equally important to know which social channel is best suited to support your industry and the content you’re able to produce.

Over the last two weeks, we investigated the nature of six prominent social channels, with a special emphasis on LinkedIn. With its singular focus on business, and appreciation of long-form, pragmatic content, LinkedIn is a good place to debut your company’s social media presence.

By refining your company page, joining industry groups, and engaging in business conversations, you can practice your online social skills in a “safe place” where there will be little chance of being hazed as a result of your identity as a business. Once you feel comfortable navigating an online forum, you can branch out to the more versatile, social channels like Facebook or Pinterest – or you may find that LinkedIn provides all the social benefits your business needs.

Below are some links that can help you use LinkedIn. We’ve also included our blog post that profiles each of the six social channels so you can appropriately tailor your content for each forum you choose to join.

Social Channels

Choosing the Right Social Media Channel for your Business

Social Media Explained in 6th grade English

LinkedIn News

Quarterly profits boost shares 10%

Recruiter rates increase with revenue surge

The rise of LinkedIn’s news feed

Future as professional publishing hub

LinkedIn Tips for Businesses

Why businesses should use LinkedIn for Social Media Marketing

6 tools for small businesses

3 ways to boost sales

Why connections aren’t networks

Professional networking or publishing giant?

LinkedIn Today as the perfect morning paper

The post Fortnight Feature No. 5 – Social Channels for Businesses appeared first on Chicago Style SEO.