Friction is every webmaster’s worst enemy – and yet, too few of us take the time to understand friction and root out the elements on our sites that lead to this negative state of mind.

Essentially, friction occurs when specific website elements interrupt its natural flow and interfere with its ability to drive readers towards a desired outcome.  It’s also important to note that, although it is specific elements on your website that trigger confusion for your readers, friction is a mental process.  In order to relieve perceived friction, we must take the steps necessary to identify problematic elements and resolve them, using techniques that draw on human psychology.

To better understand the types of friction that can stop buyers in their tracks, take a look at the following friction points:

1 – Bad Eye Paths

The layout and organization of a single web page can have a tremendous impact on whether users are guided naturally to the owner’s desired outcome or whether friction interferes with their ability to follow a website’s purpose and complete a specified action.

To see an example of bad eye path friction in practice, take a look at the following example, provided by Marketing Experiments:

In the first site design, the way information is structured requires readers to scan up and down through multiple columns.  Because the extra effort involved in navigating this site design leads to friction within the minds of its readers, it’s not surprising that a more streamlined design – which creates a less-effort-required eye path – results in substantially higher conversions.

2 – Divergent Objectives

Every web page should have a single, over-arching objective.  Whether you’re trying to persuade your reader to purchase a product, opt-in to an email newsletter or take some other action, encouraging multiple actions can be confusing to readers, leading to mental friction.

To see this principle in action, take a look at the following example:

In the first image, text positioned over two separate graphic elements and an assortment of action buttons splits the reader’s focus, leading to mental friction caused by indecision over which specific action to take.  To eliminate this type of friction, minimize the number of calls to action or action elements on each page to drive reader attention towards a single desired outcome (as in the second image shown above).

3 – Dissonant Tone

In addition to ensuring that the text used on your website drives visitors towards a single outcome, it’s also important that the tone you use when communicating the benefits of your desired action be consistent with the rest of your web content.

As an example, suppose you’ve decided to sell an ebook on your scientific development firm’s website.  If you’ve used a dry, technical tone for the bulk of your web content, be aware that advertising your ebook using a “salesy,” informal tone in your promotional messages could influence the number of visitors who go on to purchase your item, as a result of excessive mental friction.

4 – Distracting Multimedia

While there’s no arguing that multimedia elements – including digital slideshows, Flash videos and other animations – can make your site look pretty, these features could be subtly sabotaging your site’s effectiveness if they overpower your message.

Marketing Experiments offers another handy example of this type of friction at work:

In the first graphic, the use of too many images and video files creates friction by distracting user attention from the sales process.  In the second example, these out-of-control images have been harnessed more appropriately, eliminating mental friction by effectively complimenting the sales process.

5 – Discordant Colors

The impact of colors on website effectiveness is widely acknowledged, but although professional website designers are well-versed in the importance of utilizing proper color theory, not all “do it yourself” webmasters seem to have received the memo!

But even if you’ve never studied up on the emotional impact certain colors can achieve, there’s one rule of thumb that should always be respected – accent colors are only accent colors when used in moderation!

Unfortunately, the overuse of bright colors or the positioning of accent colors against closely competing hues can lead to mental friction.  Our eyes naturally want to be drawn to focus elements, so when they struggle to determine which element to focus on, friction occurs and disrupts the sales process.

To see this mistake in action, take a look at the following example:

In the first image, the orange opt-in box competes too closely with the bright blue of the page background.  Even though these two colors are considered to be “complimentary,” their relative saturation levels are too closely matched for the orange to stand out as an accent color.  This effect has been minimized in the second image, which achieved 20% higher conversions over the first example as a result of its better use of accent colors.

6 – Disorganized Content

Let’s face it – website visitors aren’t always the sharpest crayons in the box!  And although we might like to think that our stellar content or explicit details will help to overcome these weaknesses, the reality is that most website visitors are easily distracted.  To take control and eliminate friction, it’s important that our content be organized as effectively as possible.

For example, check out the following comparison:

In the first instance, website visitors must read through several blocks of test in order to understand and evaluate several different membership types – not gonna happen!

The second image represents a much better way to organize this type of information.  Instead of being described through several intimidating-looking chunks of text, the relative merits of each membership level are clearly defined in an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand chart, naturally leading to lower friction levels and higher visitor conversion rates.

7 – Form Length

Finally, be aware that form length represents a significant friction factor for many website visitors.

Although internet consumers are becoming less and less anxious about the prospect of sharing personal information online, the reality of identity theft and excess spam still exists.  For this reason, every extra field you add to your web forms increases the level of friction readers experience when deciding whether or not to opt-in.

To prevent this type of friction from occurring, think carefully about the pieces of information you require on your web forms, as every extra field you add increases friction and reduces opt-ins.  If you can get away with requiring only an email address, do it.  If not, uncover the “bare bones” amount of information needed in order to diminish perceived friction and improve the overall effectiveness of your website.

In general, the best way to determine conclusively if any of the above friction points are occurring on your website is to split test different web page variations.  Take a few minutes to go through your website in order to identify any of the specific friction factors described above and then build split tests that are designed to eliminate mental friction and allow your website to be as effective as possible.

Image: Thomas Hawk

There’s no doubt about it – it’s a tricky time to work in SEO.  If Google’s recent Penguin update has made one thing clear, it’s that even seemingly safe SEO tactics can be turned around and labeled as web spam.  Just ask any of the thousands of people online today reporting negative impacts despite following established SEO best practices!

Obviously, there’s no clear solution that’ll guarantee penalty recovery at this point, given the rate at which search engine changes are being rolled out and the unprecedented effect they’re having on the SERPs.

However, we do feel confident in making a few recommendations based on Google’s stated Webmaster Guidelines, including techniques for minimizing on-page over-optimization, backlink over-optimization and low quality content.  Hopefully you find these tips helpful when either recovering from a search engine penalty or protecting your site from future attacks!

1 – Minimize on-page over-optimization

On-page SEO is all about manipulating specific web page elements in order to improve your SERPs rankings.  For many webmasters, on-page optimization is their first priority, as it’s a heck of a lot easier to tweak a few variables in your site’s code than it is to engage in a complex backlinking campaign.

The downside, however, is that it’s also a lot easier for the search engine spiders to pick up on the over-optimization of these specific elements.  As usual, there’s no definitive cutoff as to what specific percentages or practices lead to a site being labeled as “over-optimized,” although any of the following factors could play a role in these calculations:

• Title tags – Title tags are one of the easiest potential over-optimization occurrences for the search engines to catch, so you’ll need to revise these elements if your current title tags read something like, “Keyword 1, Keyword 2, Keyword 3, etc.”  A far better template is to use one instance of your target keyword (assuming it’s relevant to the content on your page) and your site’s brand name, for a maximum of 60-70 total characters.
• Heading tags – Similarly, avoid optimizing every single one of your website’s header tags perfectly in order to prevent excess scrutiny by the search engines.  It’s a much better idea to craft useful, informative header tags that help your audience to engage with your content than to pack these key areas full of keyword repetitions.
• Internal links – Although creating links between the pages of your site can help ensure that all of your content is indexed appropriately and help your readers navigate your pages more easily, crafting them with anchor text optimization on a military precision scale is another dead giveaway that tells the search engines you’ve over-optimized your site.  Use caution here, and only include internal links when they make sense and can be created in a natural-looking way.

Hopefully by now, you get the idea.  The days of keyword stuffing your target phrases into every element of your website’s construction are long gone.  Eliminate these dated techniques if they’re present on your website, and make sure to take a more reasonable approach to content creation and website optimization in the future.

2 – Clean up bad links and implement new backlinking best practices

Whether or not you’ve received one of the most recent rounds of Google Webmaster Tools notifications alerting site owners to the presence of unnatural links, your current and past backlinking practices need just as much of an overhaul as your on-page optimization techniques.

The following are a few of the specific elements you’ll need to address on your own site, using data pulled from Majestic SEO, the Open Site Explorer or any similar program that’ll generate a listing of all the different links pointing back at your site.

• Assess linking domain diversity – Too many links coming from too few domains is a key indicator of off-page over-optimization, especially if the majority of your backlink profile is comprised of “sitewide” links (aka – those displaying in the header or footer sections of other websites).  If possible, contact the owners of these sites to request the removal of your link.  If you don’t get a response, undertake a more natural linkbuilding campaign in order to dilute their influence on your site’s SEO.
• Assess linking domain PageRank distribution – In addition to looking at the specific URLs that are sending links to your site, pull information on the PageRank of each page that’s linking to you.  Natural backlink profiles are composed primarily of low PageRank pages, though past website optimization efforts often have you courting exclusively pages with high PageRank scores.  If you see that the PageRank scores of the pages linking back to your site are more evenly distributed than would occur naturally, either request the removal of some links or refocus your efforts on obtaining more low PageRank links.
• Check for “bad neighborhood” backlinks – “Bad neighborhood” links refer to backlinks originating from adult sites, gambling sites or other pages in vice-driven industries.  These links have no place in your backlink profile, so if you see them, do whatever you need to in order to get rid of them.  If you can’t, at least make a record of your attempts to use as documentation in future reconsideration requests if you’re penalized for them.
• Assess anchor text distribution – Anchor text distribution is another key indicator of over-optimization.  Really, how natural do you think it looks to have thousands of links pointing back at your website; all featuring the same limited set of target keyword variations?  That kind of thing would never happen in the real world, which means that it no longer has a place in your SEO toolbox.  Going forward, either expand your set of target keyword variations significantly or eliminate the optimization of this variable entirely.

Yes, it’s true – some of these recommendations represent pretty major departures from past SEO best practices.  The idea of giving up on anchor text optimization entirely is likely more than a little uncomfortable for webmasters who have grown accustomed to following a certain set of best practices, but the reality is that times are changing.

Google has made no secret about its desire to rid the SERPs of spammy results, and whether or not you agree with the way it’s going about making these changes, there’s some pretty damning evidence that even the most innocuous of white hat techniques could be used as indicators of potential web spam.

So even if your site hasn’t been hit by Panda or Penguin, don’t think you won’t be affected in the future.  With the rate at which recent changes have been occurring, chances are Google’s got something up its sleeves that could impact your traffic and rankings – unless you’re prepared to look at SEO and website management in a whole different way.

3 – Focus on content quality

With all of that in mind, we simply can’t overstate this.  Google’s primary goal is to produce the best possible search results for its users, and that means weeding out web spam and enacting algorithm changes that present high-value content to its users.

So what does quality content look like?

We’ve mentioned it here before, but one of the best resources for assessing the value of your content is Amit Singhal’s seminal “23 Questions” post, which outlines the general framework Google uses to weed out quality articles from their spammy counterparts.  Really take an objective look at your content, and if it doesn’t measure up to the standards laid out there, either revise it or remove it to avoid future penalties.

If you find yourself blinded to content quality after too many years of keyword stuffing and optimization, ask a non-SEO friend to read your content.  If he wouldn’t be willing to pull out his credit card information after reading your articles, you’ve got some revising ahead of you!

What do you think?  Do Google’s recent changes represent the “end of SEO” as we know it?  Do you plan to change your promotional techniques as a result?  Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Image: I_vow_to_You

With the quantity and quantity of inbound links pointing at a website accounting for an estimated 50-80% of its overall search engine results page rankings, there’s no arguing with the fact that link building represents a major pursuit for most website owners.

Unfortunately, following the wrong link building advice can mean disaster for your site.  For this reason, we’ve outlined the 11 unwritten rules of link building we follow here at Single Grain.  Pay attention, as following and implementing these rules can help improve your SERPs rankings and keep your site out of the Google sand box!

1 – Thou Shalt Publish Content that Attracts Links Naturally

In an ideal world, we’d all publish great content and be rewarded naturally with inbound links that recognize the true genius of our work.

Obviously, this doesn’t happen in real life, as you generally need existing backlinks to earn the high SERPs rankings necessary to get people onto your site before they can – in turn – create these natural links.  However, to avoid over-optimization penalties, you can still emulate natural-looking backlink profiles by pursuing links from a variety of different sources.

2 – Thou Shalt Not Acquire Links Too Quickly

The rate at which you acquire links – also known as your “link velocity” – matters to the search engine ranking algorithms.  If you attempt to generate too many links too quickly (before your site has been established as trustworthy by the search engines) you risk triggering penalties that could land your website in the Google sand box.

3 – Thou Shalt Not Buy Links

Or, more specifically, if you’re going to buy links, be wary of using paid links for the specific purpose of passing PageRank in order to beat your competition in the SERPs (just ask JC Penney’s why that’s a problem…).  Instead, stick to paid link building efforts that have been proven safe and confer an advantage beyond a simple rankings boost – for example, paid directory listings that send traffic as well as link authority.

4 – Thou Shalt Not Build Links in Bad Neighborhoods

Google has come out quite strongly to admonish links in “bad neighborhoods,” but unfortunately, they’re significantly more tight-lipped as to what constitutes a bad neighborhood.

However, most SEO experts have taken this advice to mean avoiding pursuing links from adult websites, thin content sites, sites that use black hat SEO techniques or foreign language sites with no relation to your own.  When you consider Google’s position that a link constitutes an “editorial vote” in favor of your site, it’s easy to see why “votes” from higher quality sites would be worth more in the eyes of the search engines.

5 – Thou Shalt Build Links Consistently

In the same way that developing links too quickly is perceived as unnatural, building a burst of links and then letting your promotional efforts lie dormant for months at a time doesn’t accurately mimic the way links are deployed in the real world.  Instead, build your links slowly over time, using consistent effort to ensure your site’s overall link authority grows steadily.

6 – Thou Shalt Build Deep Links

Remember how, earlier in this article, I mentioned how important it is that your links appear natural?  Well, how natural do you think it looks to the search engines if every single link you build points directly to your home page?

In a real world situation, most neutral parties linking into your site would point their links at the sub-pages on your site that containing the specific information they want to reference.  Mimic this natural occurrence by directing your links at a variety of different pages on your site.

7 – Thou Shalt Seek Out a Variety of Link Types

With how frequently the search engines change their ranking algorithms, pursuing a single type of backlinks at the exclusion of all others is simply bad policy.  Case in point – consider that Google recently deindexed the major private blog networks that constituted some webmasters’ entire link building strategy.  Instead of leaving your site in this risky position, develop a variety of different link types from a wide range of sources.

8 – Thou Shalt Vary Thy Anchor Text

Yes, it’s true that using your target SEO or branding keywords in your backlink anchor text confers a ranking benefit when it comes to where your website falls in the SERPs.  However, using the same anchor text for every single inbound link you create contributes to building a similarly unnatural backlink profile as creating a single type of link to a single page on your site.

Instead, vary your anchor text from link to link throughout your off-page SEO efforts.  You don’t need to use a completely different variation for every backlink you create, but do try to rotate at least 5-10 separate keywords through your campaign as you go.

9 – Thou Shalt Ignore Toolbar PageRank

Most advanced SEOs know that the toolbar PageRank pushed out by Google is notoriously inaccurate – to the point where it’s of very little use to webmasters seeking to build backlinks from high quality sources.

Rather than guide your promotional efforts by this meaningless metric, look for active, aged sites within your industry that have a reputation for quality.  These sites represent the best bang for your link building buck, making them ultimately more valuable than sites bearing an arbitrarily high toolbar PageRank.

10 – Thou Shalt Conduct Competitive Analysis to Find Link Sources

Nearly all webmasters worth their SEO salt can repeat standard link building methods from heart.  There’s article marketing, guest posting, blog commenting, forum commenting and so on, and so forth.

But really, the method that’s overlooked most often when it comes to finding new backlink sources is a simple competitive analysis of your competitor’s backlink profile.  This is unfortunate, as the data this type of analysis can yield can show you exactly how to beat these competing sites in the search engine results pages.

To conduct a competitive analysis, use tools like Majestic SEO or the Open Site Explorer to see which sites are linking in to your competitors’ websites.  Make a note of any link sources you haven’t already pursued for your own site, as well as your competitors’ weak points.  For example, if you see a competitor who’s beating you in the SERPs but lacks a significant social media presence, consider beefing up your efforts in this area to see if doing so pushes you higher in the rankings.

11 – Thou Shalt Measure the Impact of Link Building Efforts

While building good quality backlinks should be a consistent part of any webmaster’s marketing strategy, it shouldn’t be entered into blindly.  By taking the time to determine the impact of the backlinks you’ve created on your site’s SERPs rankings and overall traffic levels, you’ll be able to allocate future link building efforts in a way that’s most effective for your industry and its competitive landscape.

What do you think?  Are there any important “unwritten” rules of link building that you feel are missing from this list?  If so, share your thoughts and recommendations in the comments section below!

Image: cogdogblog

A good landing page serves one purpose and one purpose only – getting your visitors to take the specific action you’ve defined for them.  Whether that action is purchasing a product, signing up for an email list or submitting a lead to an offline business doesn’t matter.  The only consideration you should have when it comes to designing and optimizing this valuable real estate is whether each design decision you make leads visitors towards the completion of this singular action.

And really, the only way to know if the specific elements you’ve included on your landing page are serving this single purpose is with split testing.  By comparing different versions of your landing page against each other in order to determine which option is truly more effective,

1 – Test your headline

The headline you use on your landing page represents the absolute first thing you should split test.  Given that the average website visitor only spends a few seconds analyzing your web content before deciding whether to engage further or click the “Back” button, these few short words of text are absolutely critical in encouraging conversions.

To start split testing this element, brainstorm a few potential headline variations, using established headline formulas if you have trouble coming up with new ideas.  Then, enter your different variants into Google’s Website Optimizer in order to determine which combination results in the most sales or conversions.

2 – Test your image selection

Images capture attention and can prove especially effective in controlling the path your readers’ eyes travel across your landing page.  However, the specific images you choose plays a role in determining how effective your landing page will be, as pictures can convey powerful subconscious associations to your website visitors.

If you aren’t seeing the level of conversions you’d like when it comes to your landing pages, try testing different images in order to eliminate any unintended cognitive dissonance within your readers’ minds.

3 – Test your image placement

In addition to the specific images you use, test where you place them on your website.  Because pictures can be used to draw attention, position them strategically in order to move your visitors through your landing page and focus their interest on key elements of your conversion process (for example, your “Buy Now” or “Download Now” buttons).

4 – Test your website colors

Although the impact of color psychology is often disparaged by analytic types, know that it’s a very real phenomenon.  The specific colors you use on your website convey powerful feelings and associations to your readers, and if the colors you’ve chosen for your landing page aren’t in line with what your visitors are thinking, you could be killing your conversion rates.

Take the time to study up on the different concepts associated with various colors and then test the combinations that best promote the emotions you’d like your readers to experience on your landing page.

5 – Test your content structure

There are hundreds of different ways to structure your landing page – from all text to multiple columns to video sales pitches.  Unfortunately, there’s no way to know which particular style will work on your particular landing page until you test these different options!

To start, try adding a persuasive video clip to your landing page, as these interactive elements have often been shown to be more engaging to readers than plain box of text.

6 – Test your bullet points

Few web content readers take note of every single word found on a given page.  Instead, we jump around, skimming through the elements that jump out on us and extrapolating from the main points we pick up in this way.

This is what makes the specific bullet points you use in your landing page so important.  Test different variations – each of which call out a separate set of features and benefits – until you find the combination that’s most engaging for your website visitors.

7 – Test your call to action

At some point on your landing page, you’re going to ask your readers to take action – and the specific way you do this can play a major role in how successful your sales and conversion efforts are.

As soon as you’ve exhausted some of the more impactful elements in this list (specifically, your headline text and the images you use on your landing page), try launching a few split tests designed to uncover the most effective call to action for your readers.

8 – Test your “Click here” button

Whether you’re selling products or simply gathering information for offline follow up or email list inclusion, the particular details of your “Click here” button can play a big role in your conversion rate.

As an example, consider the following case study carried out by popular blogger Glen Allsop upon the release of his Cloudblogging product.  By split testing the two following versions of his checkout button, he was able to achieve a small improvement in his conversion rate – which translated to a big impact on his overall income!

A few of the different elements you should consider testing when it comes to your “Click here” button include:

• The wording you use immediately preceding your button
• The color of your button header text, button outline, button background and button text
• The specific wording used on your button
• Any authority indicators you use (in this case, the credit card images displayed below the button)
• Any benefit descriptions included around your “Click here” button

9 – Test your testimonials

Not all landing pages will include testimonials, but if you do decide to make these powerful indicators of social proof a part of your website, you’ll want to be sure they’re working as effectively as possible!

For starters, test whether their inclusion has a measurable impact on your conversion rate.  If you find that using testimonials on your landing page contributes to a higher number of sales or conversions, move on to testing the specific testimonials you use, including their content, length and personal identifying information (ie – reviewer’s name, image, city, URL and more).

10 – Test your authority indicators

Authority indicators are graphic symbols included to encourage trust between you and your landing page visitor.  For example, if your business is a member of the Better Business Bureau, you may include their logo on your landing page in order to build trust with readers who may not otherwise be familiar with your brand.

If you do decide to include these elements, you’ll want to carry out split tests to determine where they’re most effective on your page, as well as which images and specific indicators contribute the most to your conversion rates.

Bonus tip – Test your overall marketing strategy

So far, all of the potential tests we’ve looked at revolve around specific design elements within your website.  However, while you can test these elements over and over again until you’re blue in the face, be aware that external factors may be causing lagging sales or conversions as well.  For example, it doesn’t matter how good your landing page is – if you’re sending the wrong traffic source to your landing page, it’s never going to convert for you!

For this reason, if making changes to your landing page design elements isn’t having the impact you’d hoped for, consider taking a more holistic look at your marketing strategy.  Consider testing different traffic segments, as well as the features and benefits of the products or services you’re selling, in order to increase your odds of experiencing landing page success.

Image: 401K

If the phrase “penguin attack” conjures up images of tiny, butler-clothed birds showing up on your doorstep – don’t worry!  All the buzz about the recent Penguin attack has nothing to do with a pending penguin-apocalypse, and everything to do with Google’s most recent algorithm update – which has the potential to substantially impact your website’s performance.

Here’s what you need to know about this most recent update, as well as how to regain traffic and natural search visibility if your site was impacted…

On April 24^th, 2012, Google rolled out one of its most significant efforts at curbing webspam in the SERPs, which has since come to be known as the “Penguin” update.

The update rolled out following months of speculation that Google would be releasing some sort of over-optimization penalty – a concern that was sparked by the comments Google representative Matt Cutts made in a presentation at the SXSW festival:

“And the idea is basically to try and level the playing ground a little bit. So all those people who have sort of been doing, for lack of a better word, “over optimization” or “overly” doing their SEO, compared to the people who are just making great content and trying to make a fantastic site, we want to sort of make that playing field a little bit more level.”

Though Cutts has since clarified that Penguin is less of an “over-optimization penalty” and more of an effort to eliminate webspam based on the criteria defined in Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, the impact is still fairly similar.

In total, the Penguin update is estimated to have affected approximately 3.1% of all English language queries, 3% of German, Chinese and Arabic queries, and 5% of Polish language queries.  According to web statistics analyzer Searchmetrics, some of the biggest winners in the Penguin update include unique content rich sites like Snopes.com, Spotify.net and Slideshare.net; while the biggest losers include database-driven TicketCity.com, Song-lyrics.net and Great-Quotes.com.

If you believe that your website’s traffic has been negatively impacted from decreased exposure in the affected queries, check out the following plan of action for regaining your initial performance:

Step #1 – Determine whether your site was hit

Before you begin putting together a Penguin plan of attack, it’s important to take a second to determine whether or not your site was actually affected by this specific update.

To do this, navigate to whatever traffic stats tracking program you use (whether that’s Google Analytics, StatCounter, Piwik or another alternative) and look specifically at your website traffic data for April 24^th.  If you see a significant decrease in traffic after this date, it’s possible that you were affected negatively by the Penguin algorithm update.

However, use caution when analyzing this data.  In addition to the April 24^th Penguin release, Google also pushed out the Google Panda 3.5 update on April 19^th and suffered an error with parked domain handling from April 17-18^th.  If you experienced a decline in traffic that corresponds to any of these other dates, it’s possible your diminished results weren’t due to the new Penguin changes at all.

You can also check your Google Webmaster Tools account for any evidence of a notification message outlining the specific errors that have caused your traffic decline (although the absence of such an alert isn’t conclusive proof that you weren’t affected by the Penguin update).

While Google has been much more proactive about notifying webmasters of content that violates Google’s TOS and leads to penalties in the search results, it’s worth noting that the Penguin update is an algorithm change – not a penalty assessment.  For this reason, any change you witness in your site’s performance has occurred because your site no longer ranks as highly as it used to according to Google’s new set of criteria.

Because these effects occur on a rolling, weighted basis (and not as the result of manual penalization), Google likely doesn’t know that your specific site has been affected, making webmaster notifications impossible in this instance.

Step #2 – Manually begin removing spam

Now, if the results of your traffic analysis indicate that you may have been negatively affected by the Penguin update, you’ll need to take manual action to correct any instances of spam that could have led to your diminished results.

Obviously, it’s difficult to determine what constitutes “webspam” in Google’s eyes, as the search giant hasn’t released the specific factors that it targeted with the Penguin update.  However, based on the Google’s quality guidelines, statements the company has made and the specific results seen by various webmasters, it’s safe to conclude that the following four factors played a role in this most recent algorithm change:

• Keyword stuffing
• Link schemes
• Cloaking, “sneaky” redirects or “doorway” pages
• Purposeful duplicate content

Keyword stuffing refers to the practice of incorporating extra instances of keywords in an unnatural way throughout your website (whether in your site’s articles, meta tags, CSS files or other areas).  If you have content that was developed in this way, fix it now to provide valuable information in a well-constructed manner.

Link schemes include practices designed to artificially inflate the amount of link juice flowing to a site, as well as the total number of links in its backlink profile.  Google’s recent action against popular blog networks should be a red flag that the company is paying more attention than ever to link quality, so be sure your link building efforts are consistent with current best practices.

The use of cloaked pages isn’t a new SEO risk factor – these content tricks have been on Google’s “do not do” for years.  If you’ve got them on your site, get rid of them now.  Even if you weren’t impacted by the Penguin update, rest assured that Google will continue to target these issues in the future – meaning that you won’t be safe forever with them on your site.

Finally, there’s purposefully duplicated content.  If you’ve copied other authors’ content onto your site – with or without proper attribution – consider removing it to make way for your own unique text.  With the search giant’s continued focus on content quality, there’s really no reason to put your site’s performance in jeopardy by scraping articles from other websites.

Step #3 – Submit a spam report

Because the Penguin update represents an algorithm change and not a penalty, making changes to any perceived webspam on or off your site should help your business to regain its former rankings as the index is updated.

But besides sitting around and waiting for this to occur, use Google’s special “Penguin feedback” report to let the company’s engineers know about results you feel occurred in error.  You can also use Google’s standard webpam reporting form to highlight search results that you believe should have been filtered out after the Penguin algorithm – just be sure to include the word “Penguin” in your report.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that submitting either of these forms will have any impact on your individual site’s performance, though the data generated by them may eventually go on to make future updates better targeted.  Submit either of these two forms if you feel it appropriate, but don’t wait around for a manual fix.

Instead, to improve your chances of regaining your site’s pre-Penguin performance levels, focus on improving your site based on Google’s Webmaster Guidelines by eliminating anything that could possibly be construed as webspam.

Image: only alice

Google’s “freshness update” debuted in November 2011, but it’s taken some time for things to finally shake out regarding this latest enhancement to the SERPs.  However, after a few months of tracking the impact this algorithm change had on the SERPs, we’re confident that the following recommendations represent the best way to leverage Google’s freshness update for SEO in today’s natural search environment.

But first, a little background on this important change to the search results pages…

The Impact of the Freshness Update

The Google freshness update was launched at the end of 2011, with the stated goal of providing more current results for queries that demand real-time answers – not evergreen content.  This distinction is best explained with an example, so imagine that – on a given day – you enter both of the queries, “House M.D. episode recap” and “how to cook carrots” into Google.

In the first example, it’s clear that you want “fresh” results.  You probably aren’t looking for a recap of an episode that aired months ago, so Google would be wise to find the most recent results mentioning this keyword phrase – even if these newer pages wouldn’t otherwise be ranked highly based on the traditional SERPs ranking factors.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a recipe that will show you how to cook carrots, you don’t need the results of your search query to be recent.  Instead, you want the best possible carrot recipe found on the web, which will likely be pulled by the traditional ranking factors the search engines use to parse results found over the history of their indices.

With this in mind, Google launched its freshness update in order to a) identify search queries in which recent results should be prioritized over more historically authoritative pieces of content, and b) determine how to serve up the most timely, yet accurate results.  The specific search queries impacted by the freshness update are, for these reasons, termed “QDF” – or “query deserves freshness.”

According to Google, this update impacted about 35% of search queries.  And while that sounds like a pretty big number – especially considering that the initial Panda rollout impacted only 11-12% of results pages – the relative impact was actually quite a bit smaller.

The key distinction lies in “queries versus pages”.  Although there are millions and millions of possible keyword combinations (each of which has its own page in the natural search results), each of these combinations isn’t being entered into the Google search bar every day.

For example, consider a major event like the Super Bowl.  In the days leading up to sporting’s biggest event, the number of search queries related to this topic will likely increase proportionately compared to other industries or niches.  If Super Bowl related keyword phrases account for 10% of all search queries during this time, the percentage of search queries affected by the freshness update could be quite high, even if the number of results pages affected is much lower.

This is why, typically, most QDF search queries relate to celebrities, upcoming events and news items within specific industries.  Understanding the specific queries in your industry that are affected by the freshness update is a vital part to determining how to leverage these changes for SEO.

How Does Google Select QDF Results?

As a webmaster, these changes should uncover some obvious opportunities for your brand.  If you can successfully identify the QDF keyword phrases within your industry and position your content to be chosen for inclusion in a freshness-affected results page, you stand to see a substantial SEO benefit if your result displaces a site that would have otherwise achieved high rankings from traditional SEO.

As usual, Google has offered no clear explanation as to how the content displayed for QDF results is chosen, although there’s plenty of speculation amongst the SEO crowd about the sources that might be tapped.  The Google+ network is an obvious option, which is why it’s as important as ever to be sure you’re sharing content on this site and prompting users to “+1” your articles from within your own site.

However, another alternative theory suggests that content shared via RSS – specifically through Feedburner, which Google owns – could be a natural way to capture data on which pieces of content are being read most in relation to a QDF query.

Strategies for Promoting Your Own “Fresh” Content

So, with all these different elements of the freshness update in mind, what specific actions should you take in order to maximize your potential exposure through QDF queries?

The following are a few of the strategies we’ve developed in response to this algorithm change:

1. Stay on top of industry news.  This should go without saying, but if you want to capture the potential of the freshness update and leverage it for SEO, you need to be aware of the events and news items that are making the rounds in your industry.  To do so, make watching Google News, Google Insights, Google Trends, Google Hot Trends and any relevant, industry-specific news sites a part of your daily routine.
2. Watch for QDF results.  As you browse through SERPs in your industry, take note of the specific search queries that are showing QDF results (as demonstrated by a cluster of date-stamped posts at the top of the natural results).  In some of these cases, “freshness” may be evaluated on an ongoing basis, meaning that it might make sense to continue to target these keyword phrases in the future.
3. Write short, yet informative blog posts.  Not every piece you publish on your blog needs to be Pulitzer Prize worthy.  In fact, when it comes to freshness, faster is often better – even if you’ve only published a quick reaction to a breaking news event.  Certainly, keep up your set schedule of publishing good evergreen content for your readers to reference, but balance these efforts with shorter, newsworthy articles as well to leverage the freshness update for SEO.
4. Publicize your posts through a variety of sources.  Since it isn’t entirely clear how Google is processing results for QDF queries, it’s best to publicize your posts through a variety of sources.  Obviously, both Google+ and the Feedburner RSS service should play a role in your promotional efforts, but don’t neglect the potential impact of other popular social media and social bookmarking sites as well.
5. Piggyback on current events.  Suppose you run a website in an industry that doesn’t have as many opportunities for QDF results.  Instead of getting upset about it, trying piggybacking onto other current events outside your niche.  For example, if you run a sales strategy blog, running an article titled, “Sales and Marketing Lessons from This Year’s Best Super Bowl Commercials,” could help you to pick up interest and traffic from the fresh results generated from this popular sports contest.

Overall, try to pay attention to the types of content in your industry that are receiving exposure through QDF searches.  For which specific search queries do you see “fresh” results appearing?  How long, on average, are the articles that get listed in the fresh results?  Do the types of websites that get picked up for the fresh results have any common features?

By paying attention to how QDF queries are being applied to your industry’s keywords and following the strategies above, you should be able to quickly and easily uncover ways to leverage Google’s freshness update for SEO.

Image: BrittneyBush

By now, most people are at least familiar with QR codes – those goofy looking black and white graphical barcode displays that allow marketers to pass on additional information (including text, images, HTML pages and more) to anyone with a QR code reader.  But as their adoption in the US has only recently begun to grow, there are plenty of marketers out there who still aren’t sure how to use QR codes effectively.

The following are a few fun ideas for distributing your QR codes in order to get your creative juices flowing:

1.       As your Twitter profile picture

Using your QR code as your Twitter profile picture is a great way to build exposure for your code quickly.  For best results, pair this action with a concerted Twitter marketing plan to increase the number of times your code is seen.

2.       On your Facebook Timeline cover photo

The recent launch of Facebook Timeline gives you a bunch of open space to play with, making this a great time to try integrating a QR code into your cover photo.  Be sure to include details on what visitors will receive by scanning your code on your image as well to increase engagement rates.

3.       In your Flickr photo albums

Flickr is an extremely active, growing site, so sharing your campaign-specific QR codes here can help you to pick up a few extra views.

4.       On the background of your Youtube channel

Another great place to deploy your QR codes is on the background of your Youtube channel.  As you can often pick up traffic on this site by having your video listed as a “Related Video” while others are playing, you can increase your code exposure relatively quickly here.

5.       On your printed business cards

Including your QR code on your printed business cards is a pretty standard integration, but you’ll want to put some thought into what specific information you send to people who scan your code from this location.  Your business card QR code can be a great way to include links to all the various social networks you’re active with, but can’t fit on a single, tiny business card.

6.       On your company’s printed marketing materials

If your company prints any type of marketing materials (including flyers, catalogs, banners and more), consider adding a QR code linked to your specific promotions.  Be careful, though.  While adoption of QR codes is still in its infancy, you’ll need to add descriptive text that tells readers how to scan the codes and what they’ll gain by doing so.

7.       Printed on your product labels

If you print labels for physical products, adding a QR code can be a great way to convey more information than you’re able to do within the space of your label.  For example, if you sell artisan cheeses, consider including a link to a product-specific recipe page within your code.

8.       Integrated into your tradeshow displays

Adding QR codes to your tradeshow displays can be a great way to give people important information about your company, without making them feel as if they need to engage your booth representatives personally.

9.       In your retail storefront

Having a sign with a QR code at the entrance to your retail store gives the impression that your business is tech-savvy and current.  Plus, it’s a great way to offer special discount codes that only a part of your clientele will act on.

10.   As part of a business-oriented scavenger hunt

Want to get customers truly engaged in your brand?  Consider organizing a business-oriented scavenger hunt that uses QR codes to give users the clues to each next step.

11.   As a coupon delivery vehicle

One of the best reasons to use QR codes to share coupon codes is that you can easily track which specific promotions result in the most sales.  Use this data to determine how to best allocate your advertising funds and efforts.

12.   On your shirt (or jacket, or pants or other item of clothing)

If you really want to generate interest in your QR code, plaster it on your clothing and walk around town.  The people around you will notice and ask you what it’s all about!

13.   On a sticker on your laptop

Printing a copy of your QR code and affixing it to the cover of your laptop is a great way to get views when you’re working around town or while attending conferences like SXSW.

14.   Printed on a counter display sign in your retail business

Share detailed information about daily specials or coupon deals with a QR code sign located on the counter of your retail business.  This can also be a great way to upsell existing visitors on additional products.

15.   To build your email newsletter list

If you run an email newsletter, consider using QR codes to direct people to your opt-in page.  Just be sure that the page makes the benefits of enrolling immediately obvious, otherwise you’ll simply be wasting peoples’ time.

16.   To pre-fill ecommerce shopping carts

Depending on your specific ecommerce platform, you may be able to create QR codes that pre-fill your visitors’ shopping carts with particular items.  This can be incredibly useful for encouraging buyers to re-order automatically.

17.   To encourage Facebook “likes” and Twitter “follows”

Since social signals are playing a larger role in SEO than ever, using QR codes that redirect visitors to your Facebook fan page or Twitter profile can be a great way to build your following on these popular social networking sites.  Be sure to offer an incentive for liking or following your profile to make this technique as effective as possible.

18.   To promote viral content

If you’ve built linkbait style with the intention of encouraging a viral campaign, using a QR code to encourage readers to share your materials can be a great way to spread the reach of your content.

19.   On your LinkedIn profile

Where applicable, use QR codes on your LinkedIn profile to give viewers access to a more detailed resume or portfolio of your work.

20.   Embedded in your vCard

Similarly, embedding a QR code in your vCard can help you to quickly and easily share additional information about you and your business with the contacts you meet.

21.   As a temporary tattoo

Want to really generate interest in your QR code?  Have it printed out as a temporary tattoo and wear it out on nice days.  Or, take this method a little further and offer your customers an incentive for wearing the tattoos themselves!

22.   To enhance print advertisements

Creating visually appealing, easily understood print advertisements generally means limiting text.  So if you have other information you’d like to share that won’t fit in your printed materials, use a QR code to share the other information your customers need.

23.   To eliminate updating costs for real-time information

If your business advertises real-time information (for example, daily specials within the restaurant industry), distributing this information via QR code can reduce the need for extra posters or signage to say the same thing.

24.   To share 21^st century “mixtapes”

Want to give your customers a feel for your personality?  Use Spotify to create a custom playlist that can be shared via QR code.

25.   As a payment streamlining system

Companies like Starbucks are beginning to use QR codes that integrate a customer’s preferred order and payment system to make the checkout process as fast as possible.  Depending on how tech-savvy your customers are, setting up a system like this can dramatically increase overall satisfaction.

26.   To share edgy or risqué content

If you find yourself in the position of needing to share content that’s better suited to the 18+ crowd, QR codes can be a way to control how that information is presented.

27.   In your print advertising campaigns

Integrating QR codes into your advertising campaigns can make them more unique and eye catching, resulting in more attention and more overall conversions.

28.   On a billboard

Want to really make a splash with your QR code advertising?  In this down economy, billboard rental rates are lower than ever, making it potentially cost effective to rent an entire billboard to display your code.

29.   To build your mobile marketing SMS lists

QR codes can be generated that will automatically send an SMS message to users phones, allowing them to opt-in to your mobile marketing list quickly and easily.  As long as you make the benefits of subscribing obvious, encouraging users to opt-in via QR code can reduce mental barriers that prevent people from sharing their phone numbers.

30.   To connect users directly to salespeople

On a related note, QR codes can be used that will instantly initiate a phone call from the user’s device.  This application can be used to connect readers directly with telephone salespeople, eliminating the barrier of requesting readers to take this action on their own.

31.   On your physical mailing packaging

Whenever you send out physical products by mail, you’ve got a golden opportunity to share a QR code that keeps customers engaged with your brand.  To cut costs, try having stickers printed with your code that can be affixed to your packaging so that the specific codes you use can be changed out easily.

Are you using any of these techniques to distribute QR codes for your company?  Or, are there other techniques you’ve found to be successful?  If so, share your thoughts in the comments below.

Image: haroc

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The number of free programs Google offers to help you improve your website and generate valuable data is truly astounding, but one of the most underutilized programs in this suite is the Google Website Optimizer.  If you aren’t currently using this great free resource to improve your website, read on for more details on how to incorporate this tool into your web development arsenal.

What is Google Website Optimizer?

Basically, Google Website Optimizer is a free tool you can use to carry out split tests on your website.  We’ve talked about split testing a lot here on the Single Grain blog, but to refresh your memory, split testing is an incredibly valuable process that allows you to compare specific elements on your site’s pages in order to make your overall website more effective.

For example, suppose you run a long form sales letter website that sells a $7 report with a more expensive product as an upsell on the backend.  You’ve built a beautiful site and you’ve got a great product, but you aren’t sure if your prospects will be more motivated to buy if you advertise using “Headline A” over “Headline B.”

Sure, you can make your best guess and hope that your readers respond the way you think they will – or, you can actually determine which pitch is more persuasive by testing one against the other!

Using a split testing script like Google Website Optimizer, you create two versions of your sales letter – each featuring a different headline that you want to test.  After uploading your new pages and validating your script, Google Website Optimizer will launch both versions of page in random order as people visit your site, allowing you to determine conclusively which headline variation is more persuasive to your readers.

Should You Use A/B Split Testing or Multivariate Testing?

The scenario described above – in which two headlines are tested against each other – is what’s known as an “A/B Split Test”.  That is, variable A and variable B are being compared, while all other elements on the site remain constant.

A/B split testing is a great place for most webmasters to get started, as it’s easier to observe conclusive results when only a single variable is being changed on your site.  Unfortunately, though, generating results with A/B split testing can be extremely slow.  Because there are an unlimited number of variables on your site that you could test, only performing one split test at a time means that it could take a while for you to hit on the variables that lead to the biggest improvements in your website’s efficiency.

Multivariate testing is the more advanced version of this process, which allows you to test multiple variables at the same time.  It certainly allows you to uncover results faster than A/B split testing, but the complexity of these tests means that they aren’t well suited for beginners.  When testing multiple variables against each other, it can be difficult to determine which specific variables led to the improvements you see, which is why it takes a more experienced tester to make the right conclusions based on the data that’s generated.

The bottom line is this…  A/B split testing is slower to achieve results, but easier for beginners to implement than multivariate testing.  If you haven’t done much split testing before, start with Google Website Optimizer’s A/B split testing feature until you’re confident enough in your skills to move on to more complex testing.

Setting up a Google Website Optimizer Test

To get started with Google Website Optimizer split testing, navigate to http://www.google.com/websiteoptimizer and log in with the same Google account you use to access Google Analytics data for your website.  Upon logging in, you’ll see the details of any current tests you’re running, as well as a link labeled, “Create another experiment.”

Clicking on this link brings you to the first page in the process, where you’ll select between running an A/B split test or a multivariate test:

As you can see, Google lays out many of the same recommendations for choosing either type of testing as described above.  For the purposes of this article, let’s assume you’re a beginning webmaster who wants to start with an A/B test.

The next screen that appears asks you to take a few preparation steps before proceeding with the test.  They include:

• Identifying the specific page you want to test (for example, your home page, your checkout page, your upsell page, etc)
• Creating each variation page you’ll use in the test and uploading them to your site (following the example above, you’d create two versions of your home page, each displaying a different headline version you want to test)
• Determining your conversion page (aka – the page a visitor lands on that confirms that a conversion has taken place)

Once you have this information ready, check the box labeled, “I’ve completed the steps above and I’m ready to start setting up my experiment” and click “Create.”

On the next screen, you’ll enter in data related to your test, as determined by the preparatory steps you took earlier in the process, including a name for your test, the specific URLs of your variation pages and the URL of your conversion page:

Finally, on the last page, you’ll receive snippets of code to add to each of your variation pages and your conversion page, along with specific instructions on where to place this code within your page’s HTML.  After uploading all of this information, press the “Validate” button in Step #4 and Google Website Optimizer will confirm that your test has been set up correctly.

If everything checks out, your test will begin running right away.  Check back periodically to view your progress, but remember that it’s a good idea to collect data on at least 100 completed conversions before drawing any conclusions about your data.

How to Get the Most Out of Google Website Optimizer

Now that you know how to set up a successful split test within Google Website Optimizer, how should you get proceed in order to get the most out of this useful program?

According to Cameron Chapman, writing for web analytics giant KISSMetrics, the best place to start is with your sales funnel:

“The best way to figure out what to start testing first is to look at your current conversion funnel.  If 70% of people aren’t making it past your homepage, start there. If you’re losing half your visitors at the shopping cart, then test and optimize that first.”

Once you’ve made your sales funnel as effective as possible, consider experimenting with site-wide changes or specific elements in the sales process (for example, your headline, sub-headline, “Buy Now” button and more).  It’s also a good idea to take a look at what your competitors are doing.  If they’re testing new site designs and structures, there’s a chance they’ll work for you as well.

However, the most important advice is to simply start testing and keep testing continuously.  There’s no limit to the number of elements on your website that can be tested, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t have a test running at all times.  As your split testing skills improve, try to transition to multivariate testing as well in order to make your website more effective, as quickly as possible.

Image: Tamar Weinberg

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