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Mon, 28 May 2012 04:30:48 +0000

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Is SEO the Answer for Start-up Marketing?

Sun, 27 May 2012 20:59:24 +0000

Lately I’ve seen that a tight relationship between SEO and startups has been something of a foregone conclusion within the SEO industry: “Of course startups should be engaged in SEO!” Perhaps, and perhaps not. In fact, some start-up communities have taken up a stance in direct opposition to this, stigmatizing SEO as manipulative. Personally I’m just a humble consultant who has never started a company of his own, so I think it would be presumptuous of me to arbitrarily declare SEO a high priority for any start-up in any field.

If doing SEO isn’t a foregone conclusion, then, it bears further discussion as a marketing strategy. I want to approach this topic from a different angle. In any successful startup there will be someone with good business sense, someone who can look at the evidence in front of them and make their own decision about what is best for their company. So let me put some premises on the table about what SEO offers the start-up and why start-ups are uniquely positioned to leverage their position for SEO.

What SEO Offers

(Measurable) Audience Embiggening

The end goal of SEO is to increase the number of people arriving at your site through organic search results. There are also other metrics that are intermediate factors helping you accomplish this goal, such as your actual rankings in search results. These are things that you can measure, and report successes in increasing.

In addition, there are two different sets of keywords to look at when assessing the organic search channel—branded and non-branded terms. It's a powerful thing to demonstrate that your branded search traffic is increasing—it suggests that more people are looking for your brand online, which is a Good Thing.

On the other hand, the implications of receiving non-branded search traffic are numerous. Such traffic suggests that a site has increasing visibility for relevant search terms. If the start-up is defining new language, it suggests that users are picking up on that language. If it is increasing its share in an existing space, it suggests that the site may be cutting into the market share of competitors in organic search.

Reinforcement Of Extant Marketing Strategies

Optimization for SEO has the potential to enhance the effect of your other marketing strategies. If you are anticipating driving a lot of social interaction with your site, having your pages and URLs optimized for SEO will ensure that as people share your site you get the most value from that sharing. If you are link building through outreach and maintaining relationships with people in your industry, all of a sudden you have assets through which you can promote social content or editorial or anything else you might be up to.

Makes sense, right?

Why Startups Can Leverage Their Position

Agility

A startup—particularly at the outset of operation—has a great deal more flexibility than a more established competitor in the market. The obvious dichotomy here is between the large, established competitor and the start-up underdog. The start-up clearly has more agility than the established competitor, without a doubt. Consider:

But what about the 18-month old company compared to the 2-month old? If you don’t even have a website live, you’re even more flexible than an 18-month old company with a website up and an investment in a particular architecture or format or strategy for content publication. Oracle might be a giant awkward mess to manage from an SEO perspective, but even Dropbox by now has a more rigid infrastructure and user expectations and a great deal of variables which it must consider. Setting a course at the outset, which includes SEO will ensure that you are well positioned to be successful in organic search when you've achieved the same size and user base.

As part of overall SEO efforts all of the elements in the following (non-exhaustive) list might need to be manipulated:

Keyword targeting—which terms you have chosen to represent your products, content, and brand.
Site structure—how information on your website is structured and how you present that information to users. Are your products and pages properly differentiated?
Content strategy—what information are you going to publish on your site? None? All of it? Who will be responsible for this?

The earlier SEO can be integrated into the business model the better.

Novelty

A startup is bringing something new to the market, something with novelty (though hopefully it has some staying power as well).

In fact, novelty is what linkbait is all about. It’s something new and fresh and interesting—whether it is something explicitly new or a new take on something familiar. A new product, or a new face on an old product.

I mean, check out Y Combinator start-up Matterport. They’ve got a little Star Trek-style scanning device that makes 3D representations of any object or environment. This is some link-worthy content if ever I've seen some. We talk in SEO all the time about content marketing, which can be an expensive or confusing marketing route for a start-up. The thing is, in the early days, if you’ve got an interesting product that is your content. Ignore this at your own risk.

And again this matches up well with efforts you will be making on other fronts. If you've got a really interesting start-up idea, you'll almost certainly have been getting links on TechCrunch or Mashable. If you're minding your SEO on-site, you'll be getting the full benefit these novelty-based links can drive to your site.

Efficacy of Partial Implementation

Practicing SEO is a bit like practicing meditation—full enlightenment is an ongoing journey requiring a lifetime of work, but also a little bit will go a long way. It may be impractical for your business to drop $10,000-$20,000 on a link bait campaign or plan a content strategy that reaches six months out. But if you could manage to do a quick technical audit of your site, even doing that will get you one step closer to success. SEO isn't an all-or-nothing proposition. It is fully capable of scaling with your company.

Next Steps

I think it goes without saying that I think the above premises suggest that SEO is really something that start-ups ought to be engaged in. If you have come to a similar conclusion, I suggest reading this longer essay on the merits of SEO for start-ups. If after that you’re feeling game, checking out the following resources:

These reflect a higher-level look at the problem of SEO in the startup context. Then try to take some first steps, such as:

Running through a technical audit checklist for your site, whether it is already live or pending publication.
Reading (or having someone on your team read) the SEOmoz Beginner’s Guide to SEO.
Benchmarking your current position if your site is live. Which terms are you ranking for, or just tracking words for which you would like to rank. SEOmoz's Pro Campaigns are a great way to get started doing this.
Keyword Research—what are your competitors trying to rank for? Have a go with the Google Keyword Tool and see what terms it suggests are related to those you think might be valuable.
Get your first ten links. There are a huge number of tactics available to you—this blog itself has an entire category dedicated to link building.

Thanks for reading, and good luck in your entrepreneurial endeavors! Reach me in the comments below or on Twitter.

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SEJ Thanks the United States Coast Guard

Sun, 27 May 2012 18:00:27 +0000

During and after Hurricane Katrina Coast Guardsmen saved more than 33,500 lives. I have spoken to many people that didn’t know that the Coast Guard is considered part of our military defense; they are and they play a critical role. Two crucial roles are protecting our borders (Ports, waterways, coastal security) and rescuing many Americans [...]

SEJ Thanks the United States Air Force

Sun, 27 May 2012 16:00:57 +0000

The Air Force is an amazing group of people. I chose the video below because I think it shows how diverse the aircraft is, how much knowledge every pilot needs and how each member of the Air Force has to do everything just right to avoid disaster. Thank you to each member of the USAF [...]

3 Hard Lessons to Learn From Penguin: Be Relevant, Be Balanced, Keep it Real

Sun, 27 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Focus on providing the best possible relevancy to users. If you want prime real search engine estate, you’ll either have to dish out some exceptional content or buy it through ad campaigns. Build trust, credibility, and authority in your niche.

SEJ Thanks the United States Navy

Sun, 27 May 2012 13:00:27 +0000

I have always been in awe of the US Navy troops. They fight, the transport other military branches, the travel & fight underwater, they stay out on ships for so long to keep us safe and they fly. The video below is a great representation of what all they do for us. We thank the [...]

The Week in Wine, 5.26 Edition

Sun, 27 May 2012 01:16:29 +0000

Dinner with friends and a night in the band room proved bountiful when it came to trying new wines this week.

I tasted this Blackbird Vineyards Arriviste – a Rose that the gals had. They sure liked it. Proved a great start to the dinner for them.

We moved on to the Peay Sea Scallop, which I’ve already posted (it’s on my Wines Pinboard), then this swell finish, the Pahlmeyer 2009 Jayson (a blend), which held up to the steak we shared. It’s quite obvious the winemaker (Jason Pahlmeyer) spent a lot of time in Spain.

In the band room last night, we got lucky – our guitarist, a wine lover, brought out a rare beast: a 2006 Patricia Eason Pinot. This wine comes from a four acre plot in Willemette, Oregon. It’s very rich for a Pinot and just wonderful to relish. We drank it out of plastic cups and played music, which somehow worked.

Tonight is going to be a Pinot fest as we welcome a bigger group to the house, we had to find great drinking wines that weren’t going to break the bank, since there’ll be a lot of glasses flowing. Among others, we picked the Belle Gloss Clark & Telephone from Santa Barbara:

…the Hitching Post Cork Dancer, always reliable and also from SB (sorry for the image):

And the Etude from Carneros. Hard to do wrong with those.

Remember, Searchbloggers, I’ve got a new RSS feed that you can consume so as to miss these non-work related posts.

From Today’s Ride: 20 Miles O’ Smiles

Sat, 26 May 2012 21:29:05 +0000

A good push on a demo’d 29er Marin this morning. A few highlights:

Mt. Tam, where I was headed, from Blithedale Ridge.

Tons of folks at West Point Inn today, which is about 2/3rds up Tam. It was the 100th anniversary of the Marin Municipal Water District and there was a band playing. But this shot looks South, away from the Inn, toward Tam.

Lastly, the view from near the top, on the way down Eldridge, toward Bon Tempe Lake and the open spaces of Fairfax and beyond. I do not recommend bombing down Eldridge on a hardtail 29er. Ouch.

Remember, Searchbloggers, I’ve got a new RSS feed that you can consume so as to miss these non-work related posts.

And Now, Your Moment of Zen

Sat, 26 May 2012 19:56:23 +0000

TamWFall

Courtesy Mt Tam this morning. Sorry if it takes a bit to load, this is my first video post. If anyone knows how to make it just play natively, I’d love the tip. I tried it from mobile posting on my phone and it posted sideways….

SEJ Thanks the United States Army

Sat, 26 May 2012 19:30:43 +0000

SEJ wants to thank the US Army, past and present. Admiration, respect and awe are words we could use to describe each member of the US Army. You are amazing people. Thank you for your service and our freedom. Army Facts Active Since – 14 June 1775 – present Active Soldiers – 500,000+ Army Specials [...]

SEJ Thanks the United States Marine Corp

Sat, 26 May 2012 17:22:52 +0000

SEJ wants to thank the Marines, past and present, that have served and protected us. We salute you this Memorial Day weekend and we appreciate all the sacrifices you make for our freedom. Below you can learn some facts about the USMC and we highly encourage you to watch the tribute video. Branch Active Since [...]

A Thank You To Our Troops, Past and Present

Sat, 26 May 2012 15:29:55 +0000

I think it is important for all of us to think about the fact that without the soldiers that serve the United States, to protect us, we would not have the lives we have. Every time you take your child to the park or the beach or even an amusement park you have the freedom [...]

Official: Google Penguin 1.1 Now Live

Barry Schwartz — Sat, 26 May 2012 15:10:00 +0000

For the past few weeks, we have been reporting on speculation in the forums that Google released a Panda refresh. The Penguin 1.1 update is now officially live.

All of those speculative posts were down right wrong, according to Google. But Google's Matt Cutts has tweeted that a Penguin update is now live - the moment many of you have been waiting for.

Minor weather report: We pushed 1st Penguin algo data refresh an hour ago. Affects <0.1% of English searches.

Personally, I think all those times we reported on Penguin updates - I think those were live tests of what we see now. I think Google was testing this and some webmasters picked up that their sites either recovered or newly hit. Of course, there are many who were under the false understanding that they were hit by Penguin. But for the most part, I believe these were live tests. I can easily be wrong.

Those updates were on or about May 13th, May 15th and last night on May 24th.

So now we have it - I hope those who were hit by the original Penguin update on April 24th has recovered.

Forum discussion continued at WebmasterWorld.

Co-authors by Barry Schwartz and Ben Pfeiffer

Facebook Content Ideas … Straight from Facebook

Sat, 26 May 2012 14:35:38 +0000

Wondering what kind of content works well on Facebook?

If so, lean on some recent information published by Facebook itself.

Last week, Facebook shared some results/observations from an internal study that lasted four weeks. They examined 23 brands with Facebook Pages across six industries.

Facebook didn’t publish specific numbers or statistics, but it did share general observations about what types of content generated the most fan engagement. The answer?

Content related to your business, but not specifically about the business.

So, a real estate agent, for example, wouldn’t post exclusively about homes for sale and new MLS listings; s/he’d post about the local real estate market, about what’s happening around town and other things that homeowners and home buyers would want to know. An insurance agency would post information related to driving laws, safe driving, protecting homes/valuables, and other safety-related topics.

Facebook says that type of post was more successful than 1) content specifically about the business, and 2) content unrelated to the business.

You can read more about the study on Facebook Studio’s website.

If you’re looking for more specifics than that, let me remind you about a couple studies last year that showed photos and videos were best at generating fan interaction, and posting links was the worst. See my previous article, Photos Draw Most Facebook Interactions, Links Draw the Least, for more about those studies.

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This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

Facebook Content Ideas … Straight from Facebook

Google Releases Penguin Update 1.1

Sat, 26 May 2012 04:48:49 +0000

No matter that it’s late Friday night on the start of a three-day holiday weekend in the U.S., Google has just pushed out the first update to its recent webspam-fighting Penguin algorithm. Let’s call it Penguin 1.1. Google’s Matt Cutts announced the news a short time ago on...

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.