If you been following us for while, or know anything about our search engine optimization strategy, you know that having fresh relevant content that will engage your visitors and provide the answer to what they are searching for is very important.

The new Google Fresh algorithm update

On November 3rd Google Fellow Amit Singhal posted on the official Google Blog about a new algorithm update that is intended to give searchers “fresher, more recent search results”. The premise behind the algorithm change is pretty basic: people are often searching for current results.

The impact on your search engine optimization plans really depends on if you already incorporate regular new content or not.

Updating your Search Engine Optimization Plan

It’s time for a little search engine optimization tuff love. For most of us creating new content that is valuable, engaging and useful to our site visitors on a regular basis is a real PITA. Unless you have a full time writer on staff it usually involves someone doing something that is both outside of their general duties, and may even be uncomfortable. But here’s the deal; if you want the organic traffic you must continually produce this high quality content for your readers, it’s a basic fact of search engine optimization.

Your SEO plan, if it did not already, must now include regularly published new content on your site. Why? Because Google just basically told you that it is putting a lot of weight on the freshness of your stuff, so its importaint for search engine optimization.

But here’s the catch: The Google Fresh update is only intended to target searches that have “freshness needs”. So what you should be asking yourself is what aspect of your product or service would trigger a “freshness need” to Google?

Here’s a quote from Amit’s blog post:

“There are plenty of cases where results that are a few years old might still be useful for you. [fast tomato sauce recipe] certainly saved me after a call from my wife reminded me I had volunteered to make dinner! On the other hand, when I search for the [49ers score], a result that is a week old might be too old.

Different searches have different freshness needs. This algorithmic improvement is designed to better understand how to differentiate between these kinds of searches and the level of freshness you need, and make sure you get the most up to the minute answers.”

Finding keyword phrases that have a “freshness need” and are in line with what you provide to your visitors may now be a great way to get fast, relevant, top search results and can add a big boost to your search engine optimization efforts. Here are a few topics that Google has identified as having a “freshness need”, it’s certainly a good idea to incorporate them in your search engine optimization efforts:

• Recent events or hot topics
  Are there any recent events or hot topics that relate to your business that are currently trending on the Internet? (Some current examples might include the occupy Wall Street protest, the NBA lockout, or any other major news event that is currently occurring.)
• Regularly recurring events
  What regularly recurring events involve something that may be of interest to your readers? (Conferences, meetings, trade shows, sports score updates, corporate events, earnings updates, etc…)
• Frequent updates
  This category opens up a whole new bag of tricks for anyone involved in retail. Most consumer products are updated relatively frequently. For example if I was to search for “Chevy Tahoe Hybrid Reviews” I am more likely to want to a review of the most recent version of the vehicle, not how the prototype worked. This reaches much further than vehicles for search engine optimization purposes, it works for almost any consumer product; toothpaste, TV’s, cameras, weight loss products, etc…

How much fresh content should I include in my search engine optimization?

Well “it depends”… I know – the ubiquitous non-answer answer to an important search engine optimization question. But the truth is: it does depend on a lot of factors; here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• How much quality content are you and your team/resources capable of creating?
• How much fresh content do your top competitors produce?
• How often are there updates or events that focus on your industry?
• How often is fresh content included in the results for your keyword searches?

Thinking about, and researching the answers to these questions for your market should leave you with a pretty good idea of the volume and frequency of content you need to produce to meet your search engine optimization goals as they relate to the Google Fresh update.

Always keeping your capabilities in mind you can estimate whether you need daily, weekly, or monthly updates to include in your search engine optimization plan and stay fresh in the eyes of Google and your visitors.

Even if your business does not have anything going on in any of the categories above, it is important to publish something new at least on a monthly basis, growing your site and visibility for your products and services and anchoring your search engine optimization efforts in great content.

For most seasoned SEO’s this update came as no big surprise, having fresh relevant content on your site should always be part of your core search engine optimization plan.

What is the Zero Moment Of Truth (ZMOT) and why is it of pinnacle importance (yes pinnacle) to be in front of your customer during this zero moment decision process?

The Zero Moment Of Truth is a new stage of the consumer buying cycle, and most marketing and search engine optimization strategies are simply not keeping up with target markets.

It’s really pretty simple, if your product or service is not in front of your customer during a Zero Moment Of Truth decision you will not get the sale.

The Incoming PR labs team has tested “Zero Moment Of Truth targeting” with search engine optimization and seen incredible results – 8% sales conversions from first time organic visitors – by seeking out and targeting the keyphrases a user searches for during a Zero Moment Of Truth decision, and by providing them the exact information they were looking for.

I’ll explain exactly what I mean in a moment, but first take a look at this video from Google’s new ZMOT site:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Winning the Zero Moment Of Truth

#1 take away from the video:  “The Zero Moment Of Truth can’t be an afterthought… you must think of it as part of your go-to market [search engine optimization] strategy”

So the Zero Moment Of Truth is that moment in the consumers buying cycle when they grab their laptop, mobile phone, or some other connected devise and start digging deeper into the product or service they are considering buying.

If we are anything alike – I’m sure you’ve had your own Zero Moment Of Truth decision.

Sitting at your computer looking for a new widget you decide to search for “widget name reviews” or “best prices on widgets”.  These are zero moment keyphrases. And when you use them you are usually moments away from making the purchase decision.

Zero Moment Of Truth in the wild (our labs test)

How did we test zero moment keywords with the above mentioned 8% conversions on first time visitors from organic search engine traffic?

We picked a very competitive niche in the smoking cessation market and targeted only Zero Moment Of Truth keyphrases for the products we were offering.

We built a strategically search engine optimized website from the ground up to target the zero moment keyphrases we had isolated and provided our visitors with exactly what they were looking for. In our case this was honest detailed reviews of the top 10 products in the niche along with user submitted reviews for the various products.

First we established affiliate relationships with each of the top 10 products in the market. We ordered one of each product, tested it and provided honest reviews including video, articles and photos. We encouraged our visitors to submit their own reviews and ranked the products initially by our own experiences, then later by the accumulated ratings of our visitor submitted reviews.

From the beginning we designed and optimized the sites on page factors to show that we were all about honest product reviews in the niche. We used our tiered off-site content and link building process to achieve top rankings for the Zero Moment Of Truth keywords we had identified.

The results of targeting the Zero Moment Of Truth decision in our consumers could not have been more glaring. Visitors read our reviews, chose a product, and made the purchase. Eight out of every 100 visitors to our site made the purchase decision right there, at the Zero Moment Of Truth. That’s an incredible result for first time visitors!

That’s the power of search engine optimization combined with consumer buying habits.

How can you implement a Zero Moment Of Truth search engine optimization strategy?

First let’s see where you stand:

When you start to type in your product or market name in to google what are the auto complete suggestions?

Does your website appear near the top of the page one results for those phrases? (if not our search engine optimization services can help)

How does your brand appear on the key ratings and review sites for your category?

If someone searches for your keyphrase from your TV, print or radio ads what do they see?

Search for phrases like [your brand], [your brand] review, best [your category], [your brand] coupons/discount code, even [your brand] scam.

That should give you a pretty good idea where you stand for your Zero Moment Of Truth keyphrases.

Here are the 7 ways Google suggests to start winning the Zero Moment Of Truth:

• Put someone in charge of Zero Moment Of Truth strategy
• Find your zero moment keyphrases
• Answer the questions people are asking at the Zero Moment Of Truth explicitly in your content
• Use both on and off site optimization strategies
• Be fast – “In the world of ZMOT, speed beats perfection” – Jim Lecinski (Google)
• Use video – a huge portion of ZMOT is visual, engage your visitors with video and answer their questions.
• Jump in. “Showing up is 80% of life” – Woody Allen

If you have questions about how to best incorporate the Zero Moment Of Truth in to your businesses search engine optimization strategy just reach out to one of our search engine optimization specialists, they will be happy to help!

You can also visit Google’s Zero Moment Of Truth site.

To your ZMOT success!

Greg Netland
http://IncomingPR.com

If you’re experience is anything like mine you are inundated with offers that promise the world when it comes to traffic. SEO Strategies, tactics, ninja tricks… implement that, do this, put your link here… All of it with the sole goal of getting more eyes on your page, and that’s great, we all want more traffic.

We talk a lot about the overall seo strategy in our business and how implementing the right SEO strategy will help you to achieve your goals, and the freedom that comes with it.

Matt Cutts, a top Google software engineer, recently shared a video with me on Google+ (by the way we are in the Incoming PR labs testing Google+ right now, go ahead, click the +1 in the upper left, we’ll be sharing our results soon). Anyway… Matt’s video is about how Google is constantly working to improve its algorithm and the results displayed to users, that is at the core of Google’s SEO strategy. Check it out:

Google’s SEO Strategy

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Whew! 500 algorithm changes a year, that’s a lot to keep up with! In fact, the Google algorithm is way too complex to keep up with. By focusing on the algorithm itself and trying to “game” the search engines you may see some good short term results, but when the next big change comes you could be in big trouble, that’s the wrong seo strategy.

I’m often asked why the now infamous Google Panda/Farmer updates did not effect our clients (in fact it even boosted many of them). The answer is simple, we follow the same overall seo strategy Google does: Create a better user experience by providing people what they are looking for.

Google’s real seo strategy is to give people the results they want, at the top of the page, every time. It’s easier said than done. Try a few searches using the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button on Google’s home page. If Google were to succeed in its ultimate seo strategy that button would return exactly what you were looking for every time.

But the algorithm is not perfect, it will always be evolving.

So as an online marketer or business you can focus on the algorythm, making changes that get you quick traffic. I often find it is very easy to get lost in the minutia of all the tactics. Doing anything it takes to get higher rankings in the search engines. The problem is that you are missing the secret sauce, the one thing that will put you at the top of the results and keep you there almost indefinitely, the SEO strategy.

That secret sauce is embodied in Google’s seo strategy, they talk about it EVERY DAY, they give you a clear path to follow, all you have to do is follow it. Focus on your users experience. Give them exactly what they were looking for when they searched for your keyword. Unique, engaging content focused on the subject they are interested in. Now that’s an seo strategy!

By targeting keywords wisely and then giving the searcher exactly what they are looking for you create a powerful winning combination that converts like crazy.

Simple SEO Strategy: Give them what they want! (TM)

You know that the single most important factor in ranking your website high in the search engines is backlinks, and that a high link velocity will get you where you need to be faster.

Most of our clients know that building backlinks is a top priority, but we are often asked the same questions about link velocity and how to go about building the links. Here is where link velocity comes into play.

These are a few of the questions we regularly receive about link velocity:

• How many backlinks should I build?
• How fast should backlinks be built?
• Is a stable link velocity important?
• Will a big spike in link velocity negatively impact my rankings?
• Will a big drop in link velocity negatively impact my rankings?
• How long should I maintain a given link velocity after achieving top ranking for a keyword?

These are all excellent questions; however the answer is never black and white when link velocity is concerned.

Link Velocity Accurately Defined

When considering your sites link velocity it is very important to look at the overall long term strategy and not just the tactics.

Ask yourself this: Where does your site currently stand for your top 3 keywords?

Based on your answer here are a few examples of thinking strategically when it comes to your link velocity:

Link Velocity Strategies

Current Standing: Not Ranked In Top 200

Link Velocity Strategy: When you’re not ranked for your top three keywords it’s time to let the search engines know you are serious about targeting users looking for your keywords and delivering them to relevant content that helps them on their way.

Action Items:

• Create and publish unique content containing real value for those searching for your given keywords on your site. Be sure to include as many on page optimization factors as possible.
• Plan an aggressive link building campaign targeting those keywords and driving traffic to your content. Keep in mind your competition’s overall link count and link velocity.
• Fresh optimized content that surpasses the link velocity of your competition, and being on the road to surpass their overall link count is often all that it takes to get top rankings.
• Choose a link building tactic that will deliver the results you are looking for.
• If you choose to use Incoming PR, we can help you pick a link building plan that has the correct link velocity to achieve the initial desired result in your overall link building strategy.
• Remember link velocity and link building is a marathon, not a sprint. Lay out a three month plan, minimum, and be prepared to maintain the search engine rankings you achieve.

Current Standing: Ranked In Top 100, Not In Top 10

Link Velocity Strategy: If you have just made it to top 100 keep building with your current link velocity until your site stabilizes in the rankings. If you have been stuck in the top 100 for a while it’s time to kick up the link velocity and really get building, follow the action items below.

Action Items:

• Increase your link velocity by 50-100% and keep building. If you were building 100 links a month before, increase your link velocity to 150 or 200 backlinks per month.
• If you have been stuck for a while in the same position, a big initial effort, something like 300% of your monthly average will help to kick start your progression up the ranks, we call this a “pull”.
• Once you see movement maintain your link velocity until you reach the top 10.

Current Standing: Top 10, Not In Top 3

Link Velocity Strategy: Congratulations, you’re on page 1! You’re seeing an increase in traffic, leads, and sales; things are looking good. Now it’s time to put your nose to the grindstone and get into the coveted top 3.

Action Items:

• Publish more fresh, unique, optimized content for your viewers. All the link velocity in the world won’t get you in the top 3 unless your page delivers what searchers are looking for, give it to them!
• Increase your link velocity by 50% to each piece of new unique content you have published. If you were building 200 backlinks a month to your site before build an additional 100 backlinks to your new content.

Current Standing: Top 3

Link Velocity Strategy: Awesome, you made it! I know it’s been a lot of hard work (unless we have been strategically building backlinks for you), but now is not the time to take a break. You have worked hard to get here, it’s time to maintain your top search engine rankings and keep the visitors, leads and sales flowing in.

Action Items:

• Keep your current link velocity for at least a month once you achieve the top 3.
• Once you have stabilized your top rankings we generally suggest reducing your link velocity by about half.
• Monitor your rank weekly and adjust your link velocity accordingly; if you experience a small decrease in ranking counter it with a small increase in link velocity and vice versa.

Common Link Velocity Pitfalls

It’s easy to fall into the trap of a hot new link velocity tactic that will economically get you thousands of incoming backlinks fast. I’m sure you have seen hundreds of offers that will send your link velocity through the roof for a short period of time, generate some results, and then fade into the abyss.

You must think strategically for the long run.

You are far better off building 100 links every month for a year then building 1,200 backlinks in a single month and then stopping.

Regardless of your link velocity at any given point in time consistency is the key. Build backlinks each and every month and adjust your link velocity based on your current ranking, how long you have been there, and what it will take to get to number 1. That is the secret sauce that combined with our unique backlink building tactics will get you the traffic, leads and sales you are looking for.

I guess if I was asked to summarize link velocity in a single sentence I would say: “Link velocity is the rate at which you acquire incoming backlinks to a given website as measured from today until you have reached all your goals and have total freedom.”

Today is the day to get your link velocity moving in the right direction, pick the backlink building plan that’s right for you and get started. We will build backlinks for you each and every month so you don’t have to worry about it. Let us show you how the correct link velocity combined with our unique link building strategy will get you to the top.

Here is the crazy thing; most websites I look at are not 100% optimized, frankly most sites don’t even take advantage of 50% of on page optimization factors. It’s like people completely blow off most of the on page optimization stuff and go right for the harder off page factors. I don’t get it but it certainly makes our job easier.

To me it’s like if your goal was to make $100, and the moment you set out to reach your goal someone just hands you a $20 bill (the on page optimization factors you control). Hmmm, should you give back $10, or should you say thank you and pocket the $20 by taking full advantage of on page optimization?

On Page Optimization is Easy

It’s your site, optimize it!

The only thing on the internet you have absolute control over is your site and it’s on page optimization factors. Google is basically handing you 20% of your ranking. Take advantage of it!

Incoming PR has two very simple checklists that ensure you get 100% of the value out of your on page optimization. It really takes very little time to do right, and when you do it, you KNOW that you are getting the most out of the one thing you have complete control over, your site.

On Page Optimization Checklists

The first on page optimization checklist is the process we suggest Incoming PR clients go through when you set up a new site; install WordPress, seo plugins and theme. Configure it all to take complete advantage of everything you can for on page optimization. It should take no more than an hour or so to get everything set up so that any post or page you create gets the most out of that 20% of on page optimization factors.

The second on page optimization checklist is for the content you create (or pay to have created) for the site, part of the list is for writing the content and the second part is for publishing it on WordPress.

If you don’t have the writing skills of Hemmingway don’t sweat it. Do a few hours of research, take notes, and start writing with on page optimization in mind. Some people find it easier to write on paper first (yes real paper) and then type it in after, some just like to type away. When I write, I will jot down an outline of the article on paper, and then type the article based on the outline. Do what works best for you.

If you absolutely hate to write, or just don’t want to spend the time, there are lots of places online where for a few bucks you can get a decent, well researched, original article. Just make sure the writer you hire is aware of the on page optimization factors you want them to include.

Don’t fall into the trap of publishing garbage on your own site; even if it takes on page optimization into account it will get you nowhere fast. For the content on your site stay away from PLR articles (private label rights), article spinners, article sites, and all the other “shortcuts” available. Save those for link building, not for on page optimization.

Use good original content for on page optimization.

Whether you write it yourself, or hire someone to do it, your stuff should be easy and fun to read for real people, not just for Google. Yes, you need your keyword in your content; I shoot for no less than 3% and no more that 5% keyword density in my articles (like “on page optimization” in this one). Keyword density is the number of times your keyword is repeated in the copy as compared to the rest of the words on the page and its very important for on page optimization. So if your article is one hundred words your keyword should appear 3-5 times in the copy.

The most important thing is that your copy be a good read while taking advantage of on page optimiztion factors. I lost count of how many times I have gone to a site that just blatantly stuffs the copy with keywords. It’s basically gibberish with “on page optimization” or another keyword stuck in a bunch of times. What do you do when you land on a site like this? Go right for the back button on your browser and check out the next result.

Use original, well researched copy. Write for people first, after all they are the ones you want to buy your stuff, use on page optimization for Google second.

If you decide to hire someone to write for you, always run the article through copyscape.com and be sure it is original before paying. Be as specific as possible when outlining what you want them to write including the on page optimization tactics you want them to employ.

A note about video: Video is king right now. Use it on your sites. You will experience MUCH lower bounce rates when using video and its a great way to convey information. Bounce rate is the % of users as shown by Google Analytics that simply bounce off your site when they first arrive i.e. they go back to Google and keep looking for what they want.

Video is a great tactic. The problem is Google can’t “see” what your video is talking about (yet) so it will not be of much value for on page optimiztion. To fix this, whenever you use video be sure to put copy on the page as well, you can use the video script (or transcript if you went straight to video) or write something to supplement it. This way you get both the “stickiness” of the video content, and the SEO value of the copy and on page optimization. Also, if your prospect is at work they will appreciate that they can read the copy when they may not be able to play a video with sound.

On Page Optimization Summary: