SEO No-Nos Could be Hurting Your Google Positioning

Just a heads-up:  even though you think you’re only using one URL for your website, search engines may see that your site uses a number of URLs which creates what the techies call a “canonical” issue – which can weaken your SEO strategy and positioning.

For instance: www.awarenesscreation.com is my website URL. However, IF I had a canonical issue (which I don't!), search engines would see that my website used the following additional URLs:

Awarenesscreation.com
Awarenesscreation.com/index.html
http://www.awarenesscreation.com
 
If you have a canonical issue, search engines interpret the situation as using duplicate content, which is an SEO No-No.  Even if you don’t have duplicate content, Search engines will penalize a website as though it has duplicate content if you have a canonical problem.
 
And, if you’re backlinking to a variety of URLs (especially from valuable, authoritative sites) your inbound linking strategy is also going to be weakened which will prevent you from getting top Google search positions.

How to Repair a Canonical Issue & Improve Your SEO
 
Your website developer or hosting company can help you fix this problem:

1.     Select the URL that want to consistently use as your website’s URL.
2.     Create a 301 redirect from all URLs to your selected (canonical) URL.
 
Chipping away at Repairing SEO No-Nos

SEO continues to be important for your business development, reputation management, and online effectiveness. By repairing your canonical issue, you’ll have one less SEO No-No to worry about.

Of course, you’ll still have plenty of other issues lurking around the Web that can sabotage your SEO Strategy and keep you from out in front of the competition; but you can always get in touch with Awareness Creation to help you chip away at those SEO No-Nos!

Happy SEO-ing!


Carole

DIY (Do it Yourself) SEO May Not be Helping You!

I've had a rash of new clients who have just updated their websites (or have new websites) and are just now discovering that their DIY SEO may be keeping their wonderful new sites from being indexed by Google. Many clients have had nothing but the best intentions to improve their websites with SEO but, unfortunately, many of the SEO strategies applied may be actually hurting the websites' rankings instead of helping.


Or, what's even more frustrating is that some clients are finding out their developers are using content management systems that need to be tweaked to get the benefits of  SEO. After paying a pretty penny to design or update a site, you would think that some problems shouldn't have to be worried about. You would think...


Some of the most common SEO problems include:

• Mis-use of keywords (or lack of strong, relevant keywords)
• Duplicate content
• URLs that are not search friendly
• Canonical issues 

If you're planning to have a website re-design or new website designed from scratch, check with us first so we can give you an idea of the SEO problems you can avoid before it's too late.

Have a great week!

Carole

Lawyer Internet Marketing: Why You Must Have Top Google Positions to Attract New Clients

If you're an attorney, do you find that it's getting harder and harder to get new clients? That's no surprise. According to the American Bar Association and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the competition is getting tougher and tougher:

• 45,588 students were awarded J.D. or LL.B. degrees from 200 U.S. law schools during the 2008-2009 academic year.
• Approximately 11,000 U.S. lawyers enter independent practices, annually. (As of 2010-2011 ~26% of lawyers are self-employed.)

Top Google Search Positions Should be a Law Firm's #1 Marketing Priority

Because of the increasing competition in the legal industry getting on page 1 of Google Search Listings is one of the most effective lawyer marketing tactics to have in a law firm marketing plan. Results of a survey completed by Greenfield/Belser & the Brand Research Company indicates that decision makers rely on the Internet when researching law firms and other outside professional service providers:  

• 82% of executives now use the Internet for research more than other source.
• 78% of executives now go online to search for outside legal services.
• 85% of executives consider professional services firms' websites as important sources of information in their search for outside professionals.

And - given that Google is the most influential search engine, doesn't it make sense that an effective law firm marketing plan must include Google search engine optimization (SEO) and a Google Adwords campaign? (The answer is 'yes" - actually, the answer is "absolutely").

What to Know About Lawyer SEO & Law Firm Google AdWords Campaign 

The key to getting top listings on Google requires the following:

• Realistic expectations
• Thorough Keyword Research & Development
• On-Page Search Engine Optimization
• Off-Page Search Engine Optimization
• Performance Reporting
• Ongoing Updates

Most important thing to remember about getting to the top of Google search:  it's not a one-time, quick fix. 

The second most important thing to remember:  get professional help.

Happy Friday!

Carole

Big Companies Getting Busted for Using Black Hat SEO

Huh... in mid-February the New York Times reported that JC Penney's was investigated and found "guilty" of using an inbound link scheme to get top Search Engine positions. Imagine that. A big company using a (most likely) big SEO firm that bought some paid link networks, suspiciously around holiday time. AND, thousands of bogus links pointing to Penney's site were cropping on totally unrelated sites. A couple of other "smoking guns" were found such as web page titles that did not match the link anchor texts and random "inconspicuous" links were appearing in the footers of, again, unrelated sites. 


Of course, JC Penney's denied any knowledge of the crime and promptly fired their (most likely high-priced) SEO firm. AND, Penney's site has been penalized by Google to the point that it's not showing up in the coveted #1 & #2 spots it had gained during the holiday. Actually, it's been reported that the Penney's site is not showing up at all in any non-branded keyword searches. You still find the Penney's site using their name but not by searching with keywords such as "bedding", "dresses", "home decor", etc. which were at one time showing Penney's as #1 or #2 in search results. 


Interestingly enough, Overstock.com was ratted out by a competitor for an inbound link building scheme that involved bribing .edu sites (with a 10% discount) to include Overstock's links on those highly valuable sites.


I have to say this is good news. It's about time those with the bucks start earning their top positions like the rest of us have to.  Now, companies like Penney's and Overstock may have to put some dollars into an online reputation management campaign instead of costly Black Hat SEO Strategies.


It's not nice to fool Mother Google!


Carole

SEO Keyword Research & Development - The Life Force of Your SEO Strategy

SEO keyword research and development is absolutely necessary for the following situations:

• Establishing a domain name for your new website
• Creating a new website
• Updating an existing website
• Meta data completion
• Starting a blog
• Posting to a blog
• Developing a social networking presence
• Maintaining a social network presence
• Posting a video to social media sites
• Tweeting
• Writing online press releases
• Writing online syndicated articles
• Updating website content
• Updating a social networking profile
• Building inbound links
• Fill in the blank...

But, (you observe) Search Engine Optimization is not on the list! Actually, all of the above is all about SEO.   Everything in the list, above, contributes to the success of your SEO Strategy - if - you know the most powerful keywords to use and how to use them.  

Keyword research and development isn't really very exciting but do you ever look at breathing in and out as exciting? You should!  Keyword Development is as necessary and life sustaining to your SEO Strategy as breathing in and out is to your body.  I find that to be very exciting!

Top 10 SEO To Dos for 2011

For those of you who are easily intimidated by a full-blown SEO Strategy for advanced search engine rankings, expanded brand recognition, enhanced reputation management, and improved business development here is our Top 10 Checklist of Search Engine Optimization “must dos”:

1. Have a professional complete keyword research and development. The established keywords can be used in your website content, social media posts, and search engine marketing.  Make sure to take advantage of geo-targeted keywords for Local Search if applicable.
2. Review your website keyword usage and adjust according to an updated keyword R&D.
3. Schedule monthly (at least) reviews of your website analytics or web logs. Look for trends that are bringing the best results (such as the keywords getting the most referrals).
4. Add new pages to your website:  find new topics (and keywords) of interest to your audience for the focus of your new pages. 
5. Post updated content on your web pages with the correct use of strong keywords.
6. Research and implement new ways to get free, high quality, inbound links. Use keywords in text inbound links when possible.
7. Find out the inbound links your competitors are getting and try to get the same links that they have – as long as they’re free and of high quality. 
8. Complete regularly scheduled competitive analyses.
9. Check out your web logs and review your site logs and in Google Webmaster Tools to identify the 404 error pages that are showing up. Correct those errors.
10. Update your copyright notice.

Did you notice that the majority of the above recommendations included keywords usage? That’s no accident. Many website owners aren’t getting the best results possible because they don’t understand or pay attention to the power of keywords. Keywords are our SEO friends.

Got any good keyword stories? Please share – we’d love to hear about your good (or bad) experiences with keywords.

Carole

Time to See the Light – Social Media Can No Longer be Denied

If you’ve been living in a cave (or in denial) Social Media may not seem to be important to your company.  But it’s time to see the light: Social Media can help you achieve your online marketing objectives. Actually, Social Media can help you achieve your business objectives.

The Advantages of a Social Media Strategy 

Companies of all sizes in a variety of U.S. and global industries are finding that Social Media brings a few unexpected, yet valuable results:

• Increased Website Traffic
• Improved Customer Relationship Management
• Enhanced Reputation & Industry Leadership Positioning
• Business Development Success

SEO is Greatly Impacted by Social Media

If the above results you can get from Social Media aren’t enough to convince you to deny your denial of the importance of Social Media – there is yet one more reason why it’s time to step into the social world we now live in: Google uses data from your social media presence as an important algorithm in determining your position in organic search positions. (Bing algorithms have included social media performance for a while.)

A few of the social media activities Google will be evaluating include:

• Quality Twitter Followers (not just reciprocal followers)
• Retweets (Twitter)
• Liked Tweets
• Links to Facebook Profile

So, wha’ dya think? Isn’t it time to integrate Social Media into your SEO Strategy?

P.S.

Of course, there is a technical process that you must follow for best results:  Social Media Optimization.