Shooting for the stars: Day Twenty-two

Fromdopestodoyennes.com - not exactly a giant leap for Mankind...But definitely some not so small steps for us.



It's difficult to apply the classic marketing rules of engagement to our own situation. We're publishing a not-for-profit, experimental blog; we're not selling anything to anyone. We're curious about Social Media and want to share our experience with others who are interested in taking small steps in the same direction. But what if we were earnestly promoting our blog..? What should we be doing to increase visibility?

The Universe of Metatags, Key Phrases and Search 'Bots'
We gamely interrogated another friend (seduced to offer information in exchange for Keri's coconut brownies). This chocolate lover was -- in a previous incarnation -- also a web designer who learned about Internet marketing by promoting his own bricks and mortar business. We asked him to explain the mysteries of Google rankings. (We're still puzzled about why certain older days of our blogs continue to rank higher than more recent postings -- when everyone tells us that the search 'bots' like fresh content best.)

According to our source, metatags (i.e. the information that attracts the attention of search engines) comprise three levels of information:

1. Title of your blog/site
2. Keywords
3. Description

The title of your blog is the most important source of information for the search engines. It needs to be relevant and reflect the content of your blog. Keywords have become incredibly sophisticated, and to get this right requires an ongoing military campaign. Our expert suggests that keywords are insufficient these days. Instead, he favors key phrases; a minimum of 2-3 words in a single phrase.

The (Internet) Space Race

To identify useful phrases for your own blog/website, he recommends typing the key phrase you are thinking of using into Google and then look at, say, the top 10 pages of results to understand the sites associated with this phrase. Then look at the source code for several of the top ranking sites and work out which key search terms they are using. (Sounds like industrial espionage this, but apparently, it's fair play as people jostle for pre-eminence in Google's rankings!) Google analytics is another useful source for identifying trends, however, as our insider confirms, yet again, this is an inexact science, a case of ongoing trial and error: "If anyone could really tell how Google ranks sites, what algorithms its search engines use, they could make millions." Another word of advice, make sure that you repeat your keywords and phrases in the body content of your blog. Apparently one of the things that the search engine looks for is relative relationships, that is, whether the key phrases you have flagged is supported by the actual content of your site.

A short digression while we revisit the issue of the naming of our blog... "It's one of the silliest names I've ever come across," confirms our source. "When you pick a name, keep two rules in mind; can you say it over the radio without having to spell it out? Is it three syllables or less?"

With only six more posts to write, we'd like to end on a cultural note and cite words of encouragement from a Victorian poem Andrea del Sarto by Robert Browning.


"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a Heaven for?"

Exactly.


If we hadn't come up with a silly name and started writing this silly blog we'd never have found out about any of this silly stuff.

Posted by Claire

Day Fifteen: Search Engine Optimization (Insider Tricks)

The Spider and the Fly

A Poem by Mary Howitt

Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Spider to the Fly,
'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I've a many curious things to shew when you are there."

Search Engine Optimization is yet another one of those insider buzzwords that gets thrown around with gusto (SEO for short, if you're in the biz, apparently).

The more we read up on the subject, however, the more it comes across as a dark art; practized by a near secret society of search engine optimization "engineers," "consultants," and cognescenti. From a superficial reading of on-line resources, we have gleaned the following insights:

1. Get inside your visitor's head

In order to get your website or blog noticed, you must think like your visitor; you need to try and work out how they found you or other similar sites. Which keywords are your friends / customers / followers typing into Google in order to track you down? This wonderful piece of wisdom is explored at length on HubSpot's website - HubSpot is one of the Social Media Marketing specialists in this area - and their website is worth trawling for all things related to SEO marketing and other such pearls of wisdom.

An excellent starting point, again from the generous folks at http://www.hubspot.com/ is "The Shortest Tutorial Ever on SEO." Go play.

2. Enticing your visitor into the Pantry....

Said the Spider to the Fly,"Dear friend what can I do,

To prove the warm affection I 've always felt for you?

I have within my pantry, good store of all that's nice;

I'm sure you're very welcome -- will you please to take a slice?"

Accepted wisdom suggests that your website or blog needs to have a 'landing page.' This is that page which looks like an empty form with lots of boxes to be completed. The goal of your website/blog is to draw your visitor onto this page so that they voluntarily offer you information which then enables you then to profile who they are and interact appropriately.

You'll recognize when you're on this page on a website because it's the point where the site asks you for your personal information name, your telephone number and email address and there is normally an open ended question asking you to clarify what you are seeking. [In order to get you to surrender your personal details, you have probably been offered a related freebie -- a free e-book, webinar, information about an event, for example.]

3. 12 tips for using Google search more effectively.

We came across this excellent insider's guide to improving your use of Google. You may think you know this stuff already, but again if you want to hone your understanding of how keywords work, it's worthwhile improving your own search skills. Prepare to be surprised at some of the easy-peasy ways you can search more effectively. For example, "define easy peasy" takes you to a dictionary definition of the word. If you just type in "easy peasy" then you'll get adverts for a new Linux operating system called by the same name.

Tired of desk research, we're just nipping off for lunch with a well-known Philly blogger who regularly gets tens of thousands of hits a month on her flickgrrl blog

Our goal is to find out what it takes to write a commercially successful blog.

Guessed who it is yet?

Posted by: Claire