Search Engine Optimization Archives

Privacy by Google: Trick or Treat

Google is rolling out some changes to improve users’ privacy, but there’s a bit of hypocrisy involved. The search engine optimization community is abuzz and there’s a lot of misinformation out there.

The plan includes removing keywords from “referer” data. Read on to learn what referer data is, why I’m misspelling that word, and what Google is changing.

When you visit a webpage, your computer sends various bits of information along to that webpage that you never see. These are called headers. One of the headers is the referer. The referer header tells the site you are visiting where you came from. When you click a link your browser tells the page you land on the address of the page you came from.

The reason it gets spelled “referer” instead of “referrer” is that this misspelling was included in the original specifications for the web, back in 1996. I think it’s a fun bit of internet trivia, but I’ll go back to spelling the word correctly now.

Now, when you do a search on Google or other search engines, the words you search for are included in the address. For example, a Google search for [how to play chess] would take you to an address like:

http://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+play+chess

That’s a nice way to do it because then people can link to specific searches. Also, when you click a link after searching, the site you visit is told the address you came from in the referrer header. That lets site owners track what search terms brought people to their website.

That seems harmless enough, but consider another example. Say someone in Syria or Iran were to search for [how to topple an autocratic regime]. Suddenly this whole situation gets serious. That kind of search could get them arrested, or worse.

And, it’s not just the site you visit that can see your searches. Your internet provider can too. Here in the US, our providers snoop into our traffic to mine data that’s sold to advertisers and such. In countries with dictatorial leaders… well, you can imagine.

So, Google is rolling out encryption on searches. Soon, anyone who is logged into a Google account and does a search from the main Google page will have their searches automatically encrypted. This is really great for privacy. They will also be removing all referrer data when you click a search result. Again, good for privacy, but webmasters won’t be able to see what search terms brought traffic to their site.

This has the SEO community up in arms. (Well, this and another little tidbit to be discussed below.) We pay a lot of attention to the keywords that are bringing in traffic. That’s one of the best metrics we have to judge the success of our efforts.

Personally, I’m okay with trading keyword data for better privacy. I believe that the more encryption is used on the web the better. Here’s the kicker, though: Google will pass your search terms on when you click one of their ads.

That’s right, they will protect your privacy unless someone pays them not to. In fact, they’ll be going out of their way to share your search data with advertisers. Normally, when you’re on an encrypted page and click a link to a non-encrypted page your browser will not pass any referrer data. Google will actually be rigging things such that you will send referrer data to advertisers.

All the keyword data isn’t going to just go away. Probably less than 10% of searches will get encrypted this way. If you have a website, be sure you’re making use of this data. You can find the report in Google Analytics under Content » Keywords. In the long term, we might have to look for other metrics. Time will tell.

This post first appeared in my small business email newsletter’s Halloween edition. Sign up with the form at the upper left to get a useful article in your inbox each month.

One Step to More Local Search Traffic

There’s one easy thing business owners can do to increase the amount of local traffic they get from Google, and many aren’t doing it. I’m talking about claiming your listing in Google Places. Those are the listings that show up in Google Maps and, increasingly, in location-specific search results.

Often times when someone searches for a local business, or category of businesses, Google will show a “7 Box” of local results along with a map. The normal results generally come after this. For example, here’s what I found after searching for [chapel hill coffee].

Example Local Search Results

If you click on the name of the business you will go to their website. To the right of the name is a tally of reviews and “Place page.” That’s a link to their profile in Google Places.

The Place page is a collection of all sorts of data that Google has collected from around the web like reviews, hours of operation, and pictures. The more information Google can find on the web about a business, the more authoritative that business is, thus bringing it higher in those local search results. In local search, mentioning a business, it’s address and telephone number is like a vote of confidence in that business, just like links are for websites in normal search results.

You’re not at the mercy of what Google can find about you, though. Business owners can claim their listing and manually add content. The more content you add, the more Google likes you. So, get out there and claim your listing, and add as much to it as possible. Do a Google search for your business name and city or find yourself on Google Maps to get to your place page. Then, just click the link at the top right that says “Business owner?”

Example Google Places Page

To prove yourself, Google will call the phone number associated with your listing and have you enter a code. It only takes a few minutes. Plus, once you’ve claimed your listing you’ll be able to see statistics about how often your listing shows up for searchers and how they interact with it.

One caveat: These listings are non-transferable. So, don’t have an employee claim your listing while signed in with their personal Google or Gmail account. Generally, the easiest thing to do is create a new Google account to use for the business, and claim the listing with that account.

Common Sense SEO For Beginners

I want to share with you 3 common sense lessons about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that you can put to work immediately to help your website rank better and bring in more traffic. The fact is, SEO can get very complicated and overwhelming when you get deep into it. But, that doesn’t mean you’re helpless. Just start small, and keep it simple to start.

Common Sense SEO For Beginners

Put these 3 quick lessons to work and you’ll be moving in the right direction.

Lesson 1: Keyword Research is Mandatory, Always
Lesson 2: Put Your Keywords Where It Counts
Lesson 3: The Deal With Links

Lesson 1: Keyword Research is Mandatory, Always

Always do your keyword research. This can not be emphasized enough. People are searching for what you offer. They’re using some keywords more than others. You need to know the high traffic keywords for your market.

To get started, I suggest two tools that are free and pretty easy to use.

Google Insights for Search — This lets you see nice comparative graphs of search traffic for your keywords. It’s perfect for identifying seasonal trends and comparing different keywords. If you scroll down on the page you’ll also see info on various trends, including geographical data.
Keep an eye on the geographic region you’re targeting to be sure the data is relevant. For example the keyword [kosher deli] gets lots and lots of traffic in the US, but 95% of it is from New York.
Google Adwords Keyword Tool — Here’s where you’ll really flesh out your keyword list. This tool will spit out a lot of data, and come up with related keywords you might not have thought of.
Don’t get overwhelmed. The only column you need to worry about is titled Local Monthly Searches. That will give you an approximate number of searches per month in your country and language. If you’re targeting international markets, look at the Global column.
The Competition column tells you how many people are advertising on that keyword using Google Adwords. This can be a good indicator of how profitable a keyword is.

Spend some time brainstorming all the phrases that someone might type into Google to find your site. Then use the above tools to figure out where the big numbers are.

Lesson 2: Put Your Keywords Where It Matters

Now that you know what keywords pull the most traffic it’s time to put them to use. Use these keywords on your website. Put them in paragraph text, headlines, and page titles. Stick them in your footer. Just don’t repeat them without reason. Spammers are known for putting huge lists of keywords at the bottom of their pages in little tiny text. Search engines know this and will take you right out of the listings if they catch you “keyword stuffing.”

Keep your text geared to the user. Your content is for the user first, and search engines second. Don’t get hung up with your “keyword density” — the amount your keyword is repeated. Just try to use those high volume keywords more often. You’ll want to use them with links to your site too.

Lesson 3: The Deal With Links

Links are vital. I’m talking about links from other websites to your site, and specific pages of your site. Every time a search engine finds a link to your website they count it like a vote of confidence in your site. More links makes your site more authoritative, bringing you more traffic.

Remember your keywords? Use them in the link text, or near it. This tells search engines you’re more relevant for those keywords.

Now there are links that don’t pass SEO juice like this. They are marked to tell search engines not to count them. They have been marked as “NoFollow” links. For example, every link you post on twitter is a “NoFollow” link. The same goes for links in most blog comments.

Obviously these “NoFollow” links can still drive traffic to your site even if they don’t count for SEO. They don’t count as a vote of confidence, but they are natural. If you don’t have any links that have been “NoFollowed” then you’re probably a spammer.

So, if you’re just starting out don’t worry too much about it and just get links. Look for directories related to your site, forums and blogs on your topic. Don’t go posting a ton of links and nothing else, but contribute a meaningful comment or insight and link where it seems reasonable.

For best results, spend some time every week building links. Fresh links are like fresh buzz for your site, and Google will reward you for staying fresh.

Doing a little SEO yourself can be very rewarding. Just remember to do your keyword research and target the words that really matter. Keep all your efforts focused on helping the user and you’ll avoid spam penalties. It could take a few months, but you should be able to move up a few spots in the rankings and boost your traffic just by using the right keywords and building some links.

SEO & PPC Case Study: Success in the Recession – July 2009 Newsletter

As promised, here is the web version of my July e-mail newsletter. Read on to learn how a small business is making more sales now than before the recession! Thanks to SEO & PPC advertising this dog trainer is selling out his high-end program

I bring news of success in this recession. Best of all, the methods used are accessible to all of you. If you’re not up to reading all this, scroll on down and at least check out the pictures. Then, imagine what this could do for your business.

SEO & PPC Case Study: Canine College of Chapel Hill

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Newsletter Sneak Preview: Success in the Recession Case Study

I’m putting the finishing touches on July’s Small Business Newsletter. Use the handy form to your left to get a copy delivered to your inbox!

This month’s issue will feature a case study. I’ll explain how exactly one of my clients is doing more business now than he was before the recession!

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Google’s PageRank – What is it?

Websites can be confusing enough without thinking about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Throw that into the equation and most business owners start getting overwhelmed. You know you want your website to show up in Google, and there are a lot of folks out there who charge a lot of money to make that happen. If you want to get traffic to your site, you need to show up in Google search results. You can worry about pay-per-click advertising later, best to start with a strong, organic foundation.

One thing that can be confusing at first is the PageRank system used by Google. Obviously, you would like for your site to be in first place when someone searches for keywords related to your products or services. So, a PageRank of 1 sounds pretty nice doesn’t it. Well, it isn’t.

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Where does Google come up with all these ideas?

Google has grown from a web search engine into a massive provider of web services and applications. You can use Google to keep track of your calender, search a gigantic archive of video (growing at the rate of 13 hours video per minute,) use email, work with spreadsheets, presentations, documents, and even get satellite photos of most of the planet all from one site.

I started using Google as my primary search engine early on. It was still in the beta testing phase. You’ll notice some Google features have a ‘beta’ indicator in the upper left by their logo. This means they are not considered a final product, or release quality, yet. Final testing is being carried out to work out the last of the bugs. All quality software products, and web applications go through this process.

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