~~~High Rankings Advisor – Issue No. 259~~~
Your Host: Jill Whalen [jill@highrankings.com]
________________________________________________________
~~~IN TODAY'S ADVISOR~~~
*Introductory Comments:
----> New Feature
*Search Engine Marketing:
----> Building an eCommerce Site for SEO
*High Rankings Happenings:
----> Personal Site Review from Jill Whalen
----> SEO Training Class – New Date Announced!
*Twitter Question of the Week:
----> Anti-Reputation Management
*Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week:
----> New Optimized Page vs. New Site
*Advisor Wrap-up:
----> School Winding Down
________________________________________________________
~~~Introductory Comments~~~
Hey everyone!
We've got an article today from our copywriting friend, Karon Thackston. In addition, we've created a new section of the newsletter called "Twitter Question of the Week." This is where I will ask an SEO question to my thousands of Twitter followers during the week, and share some of the more interesting answers. I hope it will be educational as well as thought provoking.
Enjoy! – Jill
~~~Search Engine Marketing Issues~~~
++Building an eCommerce Site with SEO in Mind++
By Karon Thackston © 2009, All Rights Reserved
Have you ever noticed that ecommerce sites have their own set of challenges when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO)? If you're a small ecommerce site owner, I'm sure you have. One reason is that copy plays such a vital role in the optimization process. Because ecommerce sites typically have significantly less content than many other types of websites, they can face struggles that others don't have.
There are a few elements you, as an ecommerce site owner, can put into practice that will boost your tendency to get ranked highly. However, you'll need to start from the ground up. Keep in mind that words on any part of the page or coding count as content.
Keywords First and Foremost
The basis of any optimized website is the keyword list. Why? Because the search terms you choose to focus on will be used in every area of development from the navigational structure all the way through to the copy.
As you look through your choices, think of the structure of your site. When you create a list of terms to use on each page, start broad and work your way to the more specific keywords. For instance, if your site sells shoes, you'll want phrases such as [discount shoes], [shoe store] or [shoes online] for your home page.
As you move through the different sections, select search terms that reflect what's available on those specific pages. In fact, I find it helpful to create a chart and on it I list which terms will go where. It makes keyword usage much easier to keep up with as you move through your site.
Do not use the same exact keyphrases on every single page of your site. Do not try to shove as many keyphrases as you can onto every page of your site. Each page gives you a unique opportunity to rank with the engines because each page stands on its own. Select search terms specifically for the individual pages.
Where do you use the keyphrases that you select? In all these places:
Navigation / Links
As you're setting up site navigation, keep your keyphrases in mind. You'll want to create category and page names using keyphrases whenever possible. Of course, length is always a consideration for navigation names.
Let's say (for the sake of example) that you plan to have separate categories for men's shoes, women's shoes, and children's shoes. After looking at the keyword research, you find that these are, indeed, viable keyphrases.
Those are certainly easy enough to work into your site and they are applicable to your particular categories. In your content management system (CMS), name your first category [women's shoes]. Also name your first navigational link [women's shoes].
When possible, also use keywords in your individual URL page links. While I used to think this carried little weight (if any) with the engines, I've recently read several comments from Google that recommend using keyphrases with dashes in URLs.
This isn't always possible due to the constraints of the CMS, but when you're able to do so, insert keyphrases into URLs.
Breadcrumb Trail
This is a very important SEO and usability feature to add to your site. Breadcrumb trails look like this: home > women's shoes > designer shoes > black > pumps.
It helps visitors see where they've been. But do you notice what else it's doing? It's creating long-tail keyphrases of sorts. If you look on our imaginary keyword list, you'll see that [women's designer black pumps] is another viable keyphrase.
As customers click through the navigation, they are following a trail of keywords. The Googlebot can follow that same trail.
Alt Tags / Image Attributes
Here's another little-known or forgotten area to include keyphrases in. The text used in these tags counts the same as anchor text used in your copy. Be very sure that the keyword-rich descriptions that you include in alt text and image attributes apply to the image they're related to.
Copy
Last, but certainly not least, we move from behind the scenes to the forefront of your site. Good copy is vital for many reasons. Yes, it helps you with search engine rankings, but it also communicates with your site visitors.
The biggest mistake I see ecommerce site owners making is not using copy to connect with visitors. They look at copy as the enemy: something they *have* to include for the sake of the engines. But well-written SEO copy can quickly convert lookers into buyers.
As you write copy for each page, interject keyphrases into your headlines. Google and other engines give particular importance to headlines, so include search terms if at all possible.
In addition, work keyphrases naturally into your category page copy as well as individual product descriptions, using search terms that are specific to each.
Granted, it takes time and planning to build an ecommerce site with content that's truly engineered to rank high. However, if you give due diligence to the steps above, you'll find success comes much easier.
Karon
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-AWVrIVB3pTip6%404368611-KmhRHrtmpYvrM
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-MRGvPd97kX5QQ%404368612-645QJYoNEYuXg
Share your comments and thoughts here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-iPpu.quMYqByQ%404368613-s5EAa.WrsYZXI
__________Personal Site Review from Jill Whalen__________
Recession Buster SEO Website Review – Only $600
__________________________________________________
In this economic climate, can you afford to put your SEO on
the back burner?
What you'll receive:
* Jill Whalen will personally review your website for the top 10
problems preventing you from receiving the targeted traffic
you deserve.
* An emailed statement written by Jill of the issues she found.
* Answers via email to any questions about the review.
Learn which tasks will provide you with the biggest bang for your
buck and stop missing out on highly targeted opportunities and sales.
Learn more here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-Tumh4MfTWSTUE%404368614-5nLr5tO9bR9M%2e
__________________________________________________
~~~Twitter Question of the Week~~~
++Anti-Reputation Management++
Recently, an individual asked us to solve a problem for him. A member of his family had dealt with a certain company and, he said, was harmed as a result. This individual wanted to know how he could get high rankings for his blog when someone typed in the company's brand name. While he may have had good reason to get the word out about this, it was not the sort of SEO work that High Rankings was interested in.
However, it got me wondering what other people or companies might think or do faced with the same situation. So I threw it out to my 3,800+ Twitter followers and asked:
"Would you help someone optimize their blog for a company's name whose reputation they wanted to tarnish (assuming what they say was true)?"
The awesome thing about Twitter is that the replies start to come in almost immediately! Within 2 minutes @DavidWallace replied: "Guess it would depend on who the company is. Funny as 1st case where I've seen someone want to 'tarnish' rep. Most want to fix."
Which was indeed what made it an interesting question. We are often asked to help fix a company's reputation, but helping to hurt one was a different story. Unlike David, however, I wasn't interested in the project regardless of who the company was. It felt like bad karma to me.
Others, such as my Twitter friend @Skitzzo, weren't worried about karma. He simply tweeted, "Absolutely."
And still others, like @ShariMcConahay, were on the fence depending on the actual specifics. She tweeted: "Hmmmm that is a tricky one! I guess the answer is 'it depends.'"
@ChiqueLife and @ann_donnelly were with me on the karma thang, with Ann echoing my feelings via these 2 tweets:
"What goes around comes around – even if the company 'deserved' it, I wouldn't go there." and "Always say it's better to build your own good reputation instead of pulling down someone else's."
I couldn't agree more!
@reputationforum found the question interesting enough to post on his reputation forum. You can view his thread here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-BsjrQ5uWfu1Es%404368615-.ghiR69fxXM32
So what do you think? Are you afraid of bad karma like I am, or would you have no qualms about working on such a site?
Share your comments and thoughts here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-BFe/7ve8OpWCQ%404368616-dPY46VBcsQsho
________________High Rankings SEO Training_________________
In-person SEO Training Classes – Next Class Sept. 18, 2009
_______________________________________________________
One-day SEO Training Class for beginners to intermediate learners.
You will learn to separate SEO facts from fiction, and what to do
to bring in more search engine visitors who are seeking exactly
what you offer.
Only 6 people per class in order to provide personal SEO consulting
to each student.
Learn more or register here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-60Mv9RFpmBkzo%404368617-vC0/VWDlbfaqM
_______________________________________________________
~~~Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week~~~
++New Optimized Page vs. New Site++
Forum member "taterchips" (great name!) is interested in tackling a specific niche within their profession and was looking at the most effective way to play to that niche. Their question has to do with whether they should add a new page or section to their existing website or start a new website for this particular niche.
See what the other forum members think and/or share your own thoughts here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-iwN3gy7RUUkDU%404368618-zshgSzyEi310A
~~~Advisor Wrap-up~~~
That's all for today!
Things are winding down schoolwise for 2 of the Whalen clan. Tim finishes 10th grade this week, while Corie graduated from Simmons College a few weeks ago. Unsurprisingly, she already has a number of work opportunities that play into her political and social media marketing skills. One in particular that she's contracted for in July is right up her alley. She gets to do what she loves and would be doing anyway, on her own schedule in her own way, while getting paid for it. (Methinks she takes after me in that respect!) Our Hawaiian Whalen, Jamie, will be continuing on throughout the summer at her college as they go year round.
While it's officially summer according to the calendar, it's definitely not evident based on the weather we've been having. Let's hope it clears up in time for the 4th of July (my birthday) at least. Although at this point, I don't hold out much hope of ever seeing the sun again!
Catch you in 2 weeks! – Jill
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