Pull, Push and Analyze

Search Engine Optimizing PDF Files and Documents

bburns@constratus.com — Sat, 17 May 2008 04:57:00 GMT

For some of us optimizing PDF files is old news, yet for some its news worthy and helpful to understand. Since I’ve came across many sites implementing PDF files, I thought what the heck… why not discuss some basics and useful tactics for optimizing PDF files. The basics of optimizing PDF file begins with the same rules as does most HTML text files:

1: Your company PDF file should have actual “text” and not created as simply an image. The file should also have keywords that are being targeted based on that page i.e. if your page that is holding the PDF file is about “red balls” well the keywords in the PDF should also contain “red balls” and include useful information that the reader will relate to.

2: Link to your PDF file by using intelligent cross linking both vertical and horizontal. Make sure users can clearly understand they are going to download the PDF file. Make sure you use keyword rich anchor text i.e. “download PDF about red balls”

3: When optimizing pdf files, link popularity is another basic tactic to implement. The same link building tactics you use for an HTML page, is very similar to link building for PDF documents. You can host your optimized pdf file on third party sites, blogs, how to, podcasts and so on… be creative!

4: If using Adobe Acrobat one can add Meta Data to better optimize the pdf document. Make sure you save the file i.e. name of the pdf document with the keyword that you’re targeting i.e. “red-balls.pdf” then under Document Properties you can click on the Description tab and optimize the (Title, Author Subject and Keywords). Let me state that current search engines do not use this meta data to determine relevancy alone, yet a tactic that should be standardized by the company.

5: Duplicate PDF file content. Ok, some site owners format their content as HTML and PDF… by doing so, you will be creating duplicate content. The simple way of blocking this possible duplicate content is using the robots exclusion rule. If you have specific optimized pdf files that are not HTML then you could create a separate directory and hold those specific pdf files there. So you will end up with something like,

User-agent: *
Disallow: /sitepdfs/
This will keep all search engine bots from crawling and indexing the identical HTML content and only crawl the specific pdf’s you created in a new directory folder.

If you follow these basic tactics, you will be able to better optimize your pdf files and documents.

Cheers!

Benjamin Burns

Gmail now Sending SEO Spam Invoices from www.SEOMARKETING@GMAIL.COM?

bburns@constratus.com — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:19:00 GMT

Recently, I've been noticing a surge in spam from gmail by a company name WWW.SEOMARKETING@GMAIL.COM. These silly invoices have been reaching our local and regional level hotels. With the amount of billing one does
at hotels, this could of easily slipped through.

Example below:

Below is the actual email that was passed along to me, with a few necessary edits

I received a fax invoice from a SEO Marketing for search engine optimization. The account number listed on the invoice is XXXXXXX for the domain XXXXXXXX address - he invoice is for $79.99. Do you have any idea if this is a legit. Their email address is seowebmarketing@gmail.com and their phone number is 713 344 0560. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for your help.

I have to hand it to them, $79.99 for full blown SEO implementation... wow what a STEAL! (beware)

On a side note, the company www.seomarketing.com may be in need of a little Search Engine Reputation Management (SERM) if this spreads.

Cheers!

Benjamin Burns
Tip on SEO and fake invoices

Snowmen Taking Over Google Sponsored Links

bburns@constratus.com — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 22:12:00 GMT

I'm performing a little research on "new york city hotels" in Google, and to my surprise the SERP's resulted in multiple snowmen next to all the ads see below

Benjamin Burns

CACHE DATE is the new Black for SEO's!!!

bburns@constratus.com — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:09:00 GMT

As you all know, the page rank update by Google brought many of us to tears or leaping around like wild monkeys after having too many bananas laced with fudge. I’ve noticed a positive reaction from the update for all of our sites from PR0 to PR6-7.

I was pleased with this outcome, yet should I care? Personally kind of… the increase in PR is a rough indication that I’m in the right direction as far as link building, content optimization and the many tactics we employ.

In my case what is important, is the Cached date! If my pages are not cached at least every three days I’m worrying. The date that Google and the rest have cached my pages gives me a clear indication that the spider bots not only can index my pages, more importantly that the search engines believe I have frequently updated quality content.

Good by PR hello Cached.

Benjamin Burns

Tips for Driving Traffic With Local Pay Per Click Marketing.

bburns@constratus.com — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:08:00 GMT

Say, you own a local pizza restaurant; both dine in and take out. You’ve heard all the rave about driving traffic with search engine marketing, and need a helping hand in producing a strategy. In the case we will focus on PPC through Google adwords, MSN adcenter and Yahoo Marketing.

The Business Background:
Makes Hand tossed gourmet pizza. Can deliver 5 miles away. Has Dine-in. Can only spend 10 bucks a day with PPC.

My Local PPC Tips:

1. Research your keywords. (i.e. “city” pizza, pizza in “city’, carry out in “zip code of city”… and so many other variations.

2. Ad Copy. Make sure when you create your various ad copy, to include, the city, zip code, special discounts for nearby universities, police, firefighters, include what makes you special.

3. Geo Targeting. Unless you can deliver your pizza across the city and surrounding suburbs then you’re unlike many local restaurants with limitations. Let’s say you can only deliver within a 5 miles radius. In this case, when setting your PPC campaign, restrict your (delivery) ad copy to reflect your limitations. With your other ads that are being used for brand awareness and dine in you can set the limitations a bit more loosely.

4. Cost. If you only have 10 bucks a day to spend you better hope to convert. Now, I’m very concerned about conversion, as they drive business growth, No conversions = no money = not happy.

Make sure you understand your margins, including the costs of using your credit card machine when taking phone orders. From experience, you will spend more in the beginning of any PPC campaign, while you’re collecting enough data from the campaign to make smart and actionable optimization changes.

5. Content Sites vs. Search. If you have a limited budget, you need to produce highly targeted traffic that is in their transactional stage. I would say content sites would drive more brand awareness then a searchers who’s looking to order pizza.

Once you’re converting well and you’re happy with the performance, you'll have a benchmark to measure against running content sites when the time comes.

Running a successful PPC campaign relays on your landing page, that relate to each keyword and ad copy. In the coming days, I'll create a post on layout tips when designing and coding local market landing pages.

Cheers!

Benjamin Burns (Search Engine Marketing, Local PPC)

Search Engine Reputation Management (SERM)

bburns@constratus.com — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:34:00 GMT

Defined by the good ole... wiki as

“Search Engine Reputation Management (or SERM) tactics are often employed by companies to proactively shield their brands from damaging content brought to light through search engine queries. Some use these same tactics reactively, in attempts to minimize damage inflicted by inflammatory (or "flame") websites (and weblogs) launched by consumers and, as some believe, competitors.

Given the increasing popularity and development of search engines, these tactics have become more important than ever. Consumer generated media (like blogs) has amplified the public's voice, making points of view - good or bad - easily expressed.

Search Engine Reputation Management strategies include Search engine optimization (SEO) and Online Content Management. Because search engines are dynamic and in constant states of change and revision, it is essential that results are constantly monitored.”

Now, do me a favor and type in your company name into Google, Yahoo or MSN live and research the organic search results carefully, do you like what you see? Are the top ten owned and controlled by your company or are other blogs, sites, pr and so on… sneaking in the results.

You want to examine all the titles and descriptions of the results to make sure they are positively representing your company’s identity.

I’ll leave you with the task of researching the multiple engines and return to you tomorrow, with actions to take if you’re not happy with the results.

Cheers!
Benjamin Burns

Google Promotion Ads?

bburns@constratus.com — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:56:00 GMT

Hello all, It's been awhile I know.. I've been head deep in work.

Anyhow, I came across this today when searching for the new "The Bourne Ultimatum" movie in Google.

It's amazing that Google is that much more ahead the curve in advertising display within search than any other engine to date.

Well back the grind. Talk soon!

CNN.com Advertises Weight Watchers for starving boy!!

bburns@constratus.com — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 04:19:00 GMT

You may have to refresh this URL a few times to witness the issue.
I placed a screen shot below.

Is anyone awake at CNN.COM? Please check out your ads relating to your top story... at least pull them for the time being. Wake up.

It goes to show you how running network ads can be a bit risky if not properly managed. Content ads are optimized and displayed based on content. This is what happens when the algorithm is not fully understanding the context.

I hope this is resolved soon...

Benjamin Burns

"Dave Naylor Has a New Blog"

bburns@constratus.com — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:03:00 GMT

DaveN, one of the great SEO in the UK has re-designed his blog. If you live under a rock, you might not know who DaveN is.. if this is true get to know him.

You can also listen to him on Webmaster Radio the show is titled "Strike Point" or read about Dave Naylor SEO

SEO and PPC has cross the pond many years ago, yet many companies have yet to optimize for the UK market. In order to fully understand the UK searcher, you might want to call Dave N on this, your bottom line will thank you.

Cheers!

Benjamin Burns

"I'm Twittering, but for how long?"

bburns@constratus.com — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 20:04:00 GMT

If anyone, for some odd reason... wants to follow me check it out here. Twitter enables you to read little snippets aka (twits) of my current status.

My mission is to find how Twitter will relate to search engine marketing and optimization. I already have a few ideas on the benefits for business and viral search marketing :) I’ll keep you posted.

Benjamin Burns

“Pay Per Click Without KPI's!“

bburns@constratus.com — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:31:00 GMT

Are you crazy!! You would be if you do not apply specific KPI’S to your PPC campaigns.

Four Measurements you should apply to your Pay Per Click Campaign
(additional measurements will come)

Click Value – How much is a click worth to you? Is a click to your contact page the same as your lead form or to the services page?

Cost Per Action – How much does it cost, to have a user carry out a specific action, such as a lead form, make a purchase, drop an item in cart... and so on.

Total Click Price – Know the total sum you need to spend on PPC to generate a sale.

Breakeven Cost Per Sale/Action – The maximum amount you can pay for a particular action, or sale, without losing money.

I can come up with a dozen more measurements to implement during your PC C campaign, but... I need to a grab cup of coffee with a friend. I will continue this ASAP.

Cheers!

Benjamin Burns (PPC)

"Keyword Search is All About The Sexy Longtail"

bburns@constratus.com — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 03:10:00 GMT

Back in the 90’s and early 2000’s searchers would typically use very short keyword phrases, an example would be (for searching for luxury cars) get this “luxury cars” now 2007 searchers are use to using search engines and have become savvy in understanding how to dig into the search results.

Fast forward into 2007 and that same keyword search now looks like “top ten luxury cars” or better yet, “top ten luxury cars under 60 grand”.

As a search engine marketer, it’s all about getting the most bang for your buck, and by utilizing the long tail of search, you can turn that once broad 3 bucks a click into a 30 cent click with a higher conversion rate.

Be smart and go for ROI, not just traffic. I rather have medium traffic with high conversions for our clients than huge traffic reports and low conversion rate… makes sense right?

Now go.. go and find your sexy longtail market and do well for your client.

Tools to locate, those special keyword phrases:

Keyword Trellian

Aaron Walls Keyword Tool

Benjamin Burns

What PPC Engine Do I like Most?

bburns@constratus.com — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 05:25:00 GMT

Shoe Money of shoemoney.com posted this question, and like a good SEM I spoke. You can read the posts here or here (i.e below :) )

Hello Jeremy and Team,

Benjamin Burns from (Constratus) here. I would say it deeply depends on the target market. I find that Google adwords sends the most traffic, MSN converts the best, and Yahoo is great for targeting the female market.
If I had to choose just one, I would go with MSN adcenter.

Top 3 reasons why MSN adcenter is my winner
1. Costs of keywords are still relatively cheap

2. Conversions are wonderful, get use to double digits

3. The Adlab tools they plan to launch are better than any other PPC engine to date.

The audience I’m sure is aware of this, yet the main stream public is so… Google centric that they are hypnotized in thinking Google is the only engine that delivers. Go Save money, convert in the double digits in some cases and test the tools in (adlab).

I have to hand it to MSN, they did a great job with their PPC platform, now if they can only spend time working on their search engine :)

Happy success with Auction Ads!!

Cheers!
Benjamin Burns (SEM)

How much weight you pulling Description Meta Tag?

bburns@constratus.com — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:10:00 GMT

A good friend of mine, Mr. John Grayson of Pape Boston an interactive web firm based in Boston, asked me just how much does the meta description tag influence in Google ranking?

Let’s start the debate. Right off the bat, I believe the description tag plays a general ROLE in the overall relevancy of rank and not the single most standalone factor.

We are just talking about Google here and not the other many search engines that depend on the description tag also, for uniqueness.

I begin with… Google does index the description meta tag and will use the description meta tag as extra criteria to determine the uniqueness of the page. Otherwise, Google will use the top text of your page's content, and that can potentially be your top navigation or worse.

What does this mean?

If the description meta tags is not present and also not in DMOZ, Google could potentially index the first content the googlebot (index spider) locates, which in some cases could be your navigation, contact us page, or any other less brandable and targeted text that relates to that page’s uniqueness and in the end will affect your ranking.

Another issue in ranking, let’s say you copy your meta description tag across your pages, all spiders bots will see this as duplicate content… which will put a bad taste in the month of the engines and will negatively affect rankings.

I can debate all day on this topic, yet I have some work to do. The final wrap is that YES the description meta tag has an overall effect on your ranking and branding in the search results. As an on page factor in SEO I give it a 12% score and 5% brand identity in the results.

For everyone at Pape Boston the bets on!!

Cheers!

Benjamin Burns

Search Engine Marketing and the Client

bburns@constratus.com — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:36:00 GMT

Warning, the client needs to fully understand your restrictions when producing leads.

Time to tell a story.. Once upon a time a company wanted to make money selling their widgets online, through the power of pay per click marketing (PPC) with the top tier search engines Google Yahoo and MSN.

Now keep in mind the company widgets cannot be purchased on the site through an e-commerce engine, shipping restrictions of only five states and not open on the weekends.

The only possibility of a sale, is if the visitor calls the 1800 number and places an order (mind you this order must be enough to profit from which means if the order is not large enough it’s turned down.

Now the role of the search marketer is to send qualified leads to the site in hopes that the user calls and places an order.

As the online marketing leads trumped all other offline engagements, the company had: (monthly)
3 leads from lets say newspaper
5 leads form magazine
and 95 leads from online, yet only converted 3 out of 95 leads something is wrong.

Once again the role of the search marketer in this case was to produce targeted leads to the site through ppc, once a user calls and if they call your responsibility ends in this case.

Now if you as the company cannot convert your leads into a sales, then that’s on you. Defining the overall goals as the search marketer is critical, please outline in detail your responsibilities and limitations when going into a contract or else :).

Benjamin Burns (SEM)