SEO is not new. It began in the mid 1990s. Today SEO is hot – and everyone seems to be doing it. And… depending on whom you ask, the definition of SEO can vary greatly.

Web Developers may describe it as building a “Search Engine Friendly” website. In other words, a site design that allows Search Engines to crawl and index content on the site. It could also mean installing a SEO module that allows for Title Tags, Meta Descriptions and Keywords to be implement in a site’s code. Content creators that do “SEO”, may develop new relevant content for a website. And… then there are Webmasters. SEO can simply be submitting various XML sitemaps to the major Search Engines. The list goes on and on….

So what exactly is SEO?

According to Wikipedia, their definition is as follows…

“Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine’s users. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search, academic search, news search and industry-specific vertical search engines.”

While we don’t disagree with Wikipedia’s definition our favourite is from Jill Whalen from High Rankings.

“Search Engine Optimization – Making a website be the best it can be for the search engines as well as the site visitors. (This is High Rankings official definition!)”

While “Search” is key to finding anything on the web, it is web visitors that convert (they buy, sign-up, join etc…) – not Search Engines. We believe websites should be built for people (first and foremost) – taking Search Engines into consideration during the development process.

WebFuel’s official definition, however, takes it one step further (beyond just the website).

“SEO” stands for “Search Everything Optimization”.

We believe that anything that can appear in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) should be optimized. This, of course, includes Social Media.

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What is SEO, Really? is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

We predict that the use of Search will only continue to grow in 2012. Search On!

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How the World Googled in 2011 is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

As the Search Strategist for WebFuel, I respond to the company’s SEO inquires and unfortunately hear many horror stories. As a result, I work more and more on resolving serious Search issues on behalf of newly acquired clients. Most of the time, what has been done from a SEO perspective (previous to hiring us) is a mystery. So…. like a Search Detective, I work to solve the case.

Here are the top most startling Search issues.

1. Not in the Google Index (at all)
   This sadly happens too often. We have had to resolve this type of Search issue more than any other – and it is serious. The most common reason is that the client did not have a Search Engine Friendly website built. In other words, the Search Engines cannot crawl their site. This means no indexation – and they will NOT show up in a Google SERP (Search Engine Results Page). You should hear the client’s blood curdling scream when this is brought to light.

2. Disappearing from Organic Search
   This is horrifying!!! One day key high-ranking web pages, or even worse, an entire website, no longer appears in Google SERPs. And… even more terrifying, this is often not noticed for quite a while as no one is even monitoring this.

3. Wrong Geographic Area (not your target location)
   Yikes!!! We see many variations of this frightening issue. Canadian businesses targeting the United States – Google.com but appearing in Google Canada (Google.ca). This requires lots of expertise to resolve (not simply hiring an American SEO Agency). Or… equally disastrous, Canadian companies whereby the target location is Canada – and Google displays their search results in the USA on Google.com. At the local level, Search Engine repositioning is required due to wrong city (i.e. Nepean Search rather than an Ottawa Search) or not entire geo-graphic region (i.e. province).

4. Stolen Web Traffic(that should belong to you)
   This issue is rarely known by the website owner (how chilling) – and only discovered when we audit the account. The most popular perpetrators are the client’s competitors (or the agency that was hired by the competitor), the business themselves (due to a poor online strategy) – and the worst violation, in my opinion, a third party supplier for the client. We have seen a huge increase in this type of scenario over the past year. The 3^rdparty vendor steals (and some are big well-known brands) your web traffic in order to improve their results on your behalf.

5. Bad SEO (Black Hat Techniques)
   Call it bad SEO practices or unethical standards it’s quickly becoming the norm (now that is scary). In our SEO Audits, we have discovered keyword stuffing, hidden text, duplicate content, cloaking, doorway pages, improper use of redirects and extremely questionable linking strategies – including invisible links on a page and inbound links from bad neighbourhoods (how creepy!!!).
   This is mostly due to the inexperience of the Search Engine Optimizer and simply not understanding the complexly of SEO.  But we also see many cases whereby the SEO strategy is based on intentionally “tricking” the Search Engines. This is known as “Black Hat” techniques. The real horrifying story here is businesses most don’t know that they have hired a Black Hat SEO Agency.

6. Keywords Scams, Myths & Issues
   This list is endless… SEOs selling organic keywords “you can buy these two”, rank for keywords that no one searches for, translating researched keywords from English into French (this doesn’t work) or hiring an agency that also works for your keyword competitors (no non-compete clause or they don’t honour it).

7. Google Ban (Organic & Paid)
   This is the worst horror story from our perspective. Not adhering to, or in compliance with AdWords policies resulting in a permanently suspended account. Yes – this means no Ads on Google. Or likely an even worse nightmare, violating Google Webmaster Guidelines – and getting banned from Organic Search. As a result, your website no longer appears for branded & non-branded keywords. You are now invisible in a Search!

Got your own SEO horror stories? Please share your chilling tales.

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SEO Horror Stories: From a Canadian Perspective is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

What is a Google Places Page?

 Formally known as Google Local Business Center, Google Places is like the Yellow Pages of the Internet. Think of it like a Google local web page or an online listing of your business. This local listing can display information about your business in text, image & video format and is tied into Google Maps. According to Google, 97% of consumers search for local businesses online. And… over the past year, the Search Engine’s local algorithm in Canada has resulted in more visibility for local organic search results on Google.ca.

Google Places and Google Maps appear in a Google SERP in the organic section. It’s important to understand the placement. In a previous blog post, we addressed the layout of a Canadian Google Search Engine Results Page in terms of Organic Search vs. Paid Search as well as where the engine displays Google Maps and Places. It is very prominent. Check it out if you require better understanding.

With Halloween just around the corner, and people searching for pumpkin picking farms in Ottawa, we decided to feature a local Places page.

Here is an example of a Local Ottawa Google Places Listing:

Google Canada Place Profile for a Pumpkin Farm in Ottawa

Business Information Section
This section is ideally provided by the business owner. It includes the name of the business, relevant categories, a short description, address, website and photo number. A web visitor can phone you, visit your website for more information and get directions via Google Maps (Canada).

Photo Section
Business owners and Google users can upload photos. These photos generally include storefront, products sold and people behind the business. They must, of course, follow Google’s guidelines. Videos can also be uploaded.

Review Section
“What people are saying” about your business in a review format falls under this section. Reviewers must have a Google account to post. Owners have the ability to respond to positive as well as negative reviews.

Related Content Section
Related places that appear in this area of your profile are generated by Google. It’s based on the Google Places algorithm. Google displays other related Places pages in your geographic area. If you are positioned properly in Local Search, you will also appear on your competitor page in this section.

Google Maps Section
This section is also generated by the Search Engine based on your Places listing. Google displays a street view with a map icon to indicate your location. Web visitors can click on the map for a large view and get directions by car, bus, walking or by bike (if applicable).

Google Ads Section
Unlike your listing that is free, this section is for paid ads. This is where Google Ads (known as AdWords) are displayed. While you cannot remove these ads, you can certainly place your text ads on Places Pages.

How does this relate to SEO?
From a SEO perspective, your Google Places profile page can give you visibility in the SERPs beyond your website. Think of it as an additional web property. Depending on your industry, and relevancy from a Google perspective, your Places listing can even outrank your website based on a local branded geo-search. You can also rank in Places for generic searches based on related local non-branded keyword queries. And… your business listing can send you qualified web traffic via the inbound link on your page (SEOs’ love this!).

Your business can also appear on other Places pages under related places and/or in the ads section. From our perspective, this means more visibility in local search!

At least 20% of Canadian searches are local. People search Google.ca and Google Maps to find local businesses. Claim it, optimize it, monitor it -and measure it!

Can you get found?

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SEO & The Anatomy of a Google Places: From a Canadian Perspective is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

According to Matt, there are plenty of good SEOs out there (also known as White Hat SEO). He explains that Search Engine Optimization basically means trying to make sure that “your pages are well represented within Search Engines”. He also acknowledges that are plenty of “White Hat” SEO strategies that can be implemented. They include helping out with the initial site architecture, URL structure, making sure the website is crawlable, finding the right keywords, ensuring fast website speed and optimizing content to convert.

He did add that there are bad SEOs out there, known as Black Hat SEOs that can produce web spam. Unfortunately for our industry, this is true.

Here is Google’s first video on the topic: Does Google Consider SEO to be spam?

And… just in case you are wondering, WebFuel is an ethical SEO agency.
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Google Says Ethical SEO is Not Spam is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

What are Sitelinks?

Sitelinks are the additional links that appear underneath the first search result. They allow Google searchers to go directly to specific pages that are deeper within the website. They appear in organic search results based on search queries on branded terms.

Here is an example of sitelinks in a Google SERP (Search Engine Results Page) that have not yet been expanded. You will note that there is a single row of links. In this case, a total of four links to key web pages within the site appear.

Here is an example of the new sitelinks layout. The first search result listing remains the top domain and the same in terms of format (title, URL and short description). The new additions relates to the extended listings in this full two-column sitelinks layout. Rather than just a link, it now includes a title, URL and one line of the text snippet. The maximum number of individual sitelinks that can appear per query are now 12 (up from 8).

How does it work?

Google determines sitelinks based on their algorithms. They are generated and ranked based on link structure of your website. Yes – site architecture has just become even more important if you are serious about Search.

Why sitelinks?

This addresses the issue that some web searchers still use broad queries such as “government of canada” rather than more specific search keyword phrases in terms of what they are attempting to find. This can also be very valuable for improving the visibility of unique sections of large and complex websites. In addition, a link could send traffic to directly to their portfolio of photos (IE sites with image galleries such as a wedding photographer). As you can see, this goes far beyond the regular results from a few years ago. And… it will, of course, help you understand your web traffic from a Google Analytics perspective.

Like all things Search-related, generating good sitelinks, and optimization thereof can improve your website conversions.

Got Sitelinks? Are they optimized?

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Google Canada Expanded Sitelinks is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

What is a SERP?
A SERP, which is an acronym for Search Engine Results Page, refers to the web pages displayed by the Search Engines as a result of a search query. Each major Search Engine shows the results in a slightly different format.

Here is an example of a Google Canada (Google.ca) SERP.

Vertical Navigation
There are now two vertical navigation menus that gives the Google user the option to search different verticals, such as images, videos, news, places, maps etc… A Vertical Search will result in a more limited index. The default is “Everything”.

Search Query Box
The search query box is designed for the web searcher to enter keywords or keyword phrases based on their Search. It is displayed on the SERP for reference. Next to the search query box is the option to perform an Advanced Search or a Search via Google.com (rather than Google.ca).

Results Information
This section displays the estimated total number of search results for the search query along with the time it took Google to return these results. This number should be used as a rough estimate only as it is not highly accurate.

Organic Search Results
Organic algorithmic results or natural listings (also known as unpaid) appear in the left section of the SERP with a white background. This section also includes Google Places (formerly Google Local Business Center), which has become very visible in local search queries. It corresponds with Google Maps now displayed in the top right section are also organic results. These results are generated from the primary indexes of the web. In this case, Pages from Canada. Ranking is based on relevancy determined by the search engine – which is based on their complex (and constantly changing) algorithms.

Paid Search Results
Typically the paid search results will be found to the right of the SERP page (under Google Maps if displayed) and often above the unpaid results. Paid search advertising is identified simply as “Ads” (formerly Sponsored Links) by Google. These text ads are generated by Google’s search ad platform – AdWords. Ranking depends on a number of factors including relevancy, bid amount and quality score.

Google is forever testing new formats and changing their SERP’s layouts. Generally beta testing occurs via Google.com – and then is rolled out to the other English language versions such a Google Canada.

How are you appearing and ranking in the SERPs?

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Anatomy of a Google Canada SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

Stick around and I’ll tell you why you should be thinking about this very important SEO tactic. Even more, it is a smart business move to implement on your web presence.

Page Load Speed

In the early days of the Internet, people threw up a website and watched visitors arrive in droves. They just figured web surfers would find them, and buy their stuff. So the quality and load speed of a web presence really wasn’t all that important. In fact it was a matter of “what you don’t know won’t hurt you.”.

The Internet world has come a long way over a very short period of time. Things are going so fast, and technology is developing so quickly, it is hard to keep up. These days, one has to be all over their website in so many ways. Competition is fierce. So it is obvious that a website owner needs to be constantly tweaking all aspects of their web presence.

Enter Google. The good folks in Mountain View (Google’s Global HQ) are constantly tweaking their Search algorithms with the goal of providing high quality and meaningful results to web surfers. It’s not simply a matter of putting up a web page or blog post and having people find it. You need to work at it (At WebFuel, we do – every single day!). Ranking high in Search is a moving target. Site speed is playing an increasingly larger role in how a website ranks in a Google Search.

You may recall that Google announced their intentions of including site speed as a ranking factor as far back as the Fall of 2009. Things have progressed since then – to the point of Google putting in place a tool that will help Webmasters actually see how well they are doing in Google’s eyes.

The experimental tool is straightforward to use. Simply type in a website URL and Google will come back with suggestions for how to improve that web page’s speed (You could run the test on every URL of your website). The suggestions are ranked as either High, Medium or Low. You simply work your way through their optimization tips – and watch your score increase as you progress. In addition, Google displays which best practices a website is already following (and those you are not). I like this approach as I can now go into Google Analytics, see which pages are the most popular and start tweaking at the individual page level – if need be.

Serious stuff!

Google has also upped their game by making a nifty addition to Google Analytics – the ability to measure page load times across your entire website. That is right, you can now measure the performance of each and every page on your website!

You must be wondering how the WebFuel website fares in all of this. We rate a healthy 91 out of 100 in Google’s Page Speed Test.

This is better than most websites I have tested. The aforementioned aside, am I happy? No! I will only be happy when we rate 100/100.

User Experience

Pop quiz. How long do you hang around a website if the site’s pages load slowly? A rhetorical question. You don’t. Site abandonment is often times the end result of a website with pages that load slowly. Studies show that surfers start to twitch after about 3 seconds. Then they leave… And will often tell others about their negative experience.

The following graphic from Strangeloopnetworks outlines things very well.

A curious aside on this topic. I see the same problems on almost every website I have tested. This is un-nerving inasmuch as some of the sites I have tested are relatively new. I guess page load times, user experience, and high Search Engine rankings are more important to we “WebFuelers” (Should it say “us WebFuelers” instead of “we WebFuelers”? No) then they are to some web designers (tongue in cheek).

Should one be worried about Page load times to the point of obsession (Like I am)? Probably not as it is one of over 200 factors Google takes into consideration in their ever-changing and and ever-evolving algorithms. That being said, a website owner would be remiss in not remedying anything that could negatively affect Search Engine rankings and user experience.

At WebFuel, we specialize in helping you get found on the web. Our areas of expertise span SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Social Media Marketing & Measurement. How does your website rank in terms of (SEO) page speed performance? If you think there is room for improvement, please contact us. We’ll be able to help you improve your website’s speed – and hence, your end-user’s experience & SEO.

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The Need for Speed – Slow Page Load Times Will Have a Negative Effect on Website SEO and Conversions is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

What is Site Architecture?

A site architecture in the most basic sense, is the layout of your web pages. This design will impact how web visitors interact with your website as well as the Search Engines. The key web pages, those with the most relevant content, should be easily accessed. In terms of Search Engines, a site architecture can help with crawlability and indexation. This will play an important role in terms of the number of pages in the Search Engines’ web index. As a result, it will impact the volume of web traffic to your site that is generated by the Search Engines.

What does a bad site architecture look like?

This is an example of a deep site architecture.

Note: The number of clicks required between the home page and the deepest layer of web content. Page authority starts at the root and decreases each level down. Generally this linking structure results in low indexation and poor long tail search results.

What does a great site architecture look like?

This is an example of a flat site architecture (or semi-flat site architecture).

Note: This layout will benefit from link juice from the Search Engines. It also helps improve the page rank algorithms and inbound links to key pages.

And it is important not just for SEO, but also for web visitors in terms of usability and user experience. Always remember it is the web visitor that converts not the engines.

It likely goes without saying, but this architecture type is easier to accomplish for small websites. However for large or ecommerce sites it is even more important.

What impact do major changes have on an existing site architecture?

If your website was built without SEO considerations, you may require major changes to the architecture and content structure. This can cause a temporary drop in rankings. Making these changes gradually will limit the overall impact to your Search Engine rankings.

Check out your site architecture from a top down perspective. Does your website have few click levels? In other words, is it a SEO friendly architecture?

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SEO and Site Architecture: Why is it important? is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

Search

• Google makes 200-300 changes every year – and they kill off 2/3 of their initiatives.
• Google’s efficiency with Search saves us about 350 million hours per year.
• BING stands for “Bing Is Not Google”
• There are more searches made on Twitter each month than Yahoo! And Bing combined
• Google Instant isn’t changing the way people Search, but the way they read the results. With Instant, searchers rarely look past the top 5 results.
• Google Instant decreased time to click by 50%
• SEO is not just about rankings, it’s about conversions
• 3 key success factors for Search: Relevance, Speed and Usefulness
• The average search query on Google today is 4.3 words
• Over 50% of queries are over 3 words in length – and 2/3 of them yield no exact match
• Local Search queries are up 54% year over year.
• YouTube is the 2^nd most popular Search Engine on the planet
• When optimizing videos, follow similar SEO practices – links always matter!
• Multi-lingual SEO is a whole other ball game. Adidas faced many challenges with international campaigns which included SEO for 19 languages and the use of slang terms
• With multi-lingual SEO, you can’t just translate keywords. You need to consider different dialects of languages in different regions
• Your homepage is not a consumer’s first impression of your brand online. It’s what they see on a Search Engine Results Page.
• Go after those who are actively searching for you, stop searching for them.
• Are you optimizing your landing page? Bring users to where they want to be. Stop sending them on a wild goose chase.
• Always add negative keywords into your PPC campaigns.

Social Media

• There are over 1 billion Social Media users worldwide spending 2 billion minutes a month
• 25% of activity on Facebook is from a mobile device
• Facebook is becoming a bigger enemy to Google than Microsoft is.
• Three often overlooked YouTube Ranking factors: 1) Increase of views over time 2) Quantity of inbound links 3) Inclusion of video in playlists
• When it comes to Social Media don’t ask What – ask Why? “What” is a tactic, “Why” is a strategy.
• Foursquare experienced 3400% growth in 2010
• When creating a Facebook Deal consider the “What if’s”. What if 500 people claim a 50% off deal? Can you support your deals?
• The 4 pillars of Location Based Strategy: Context, Location, Social Interaction and Platforms

Mobile

• 101 million smartphones were sold in Q4 of 2010 compared to only 94 million PC’s
• 2011 will be the year of mobile – expect for it to really take off
• A major difficulty faced with mobile advertising is the discrepancy between a user’s location vs. their destination.
• Is your website optimized for mobile? If not, do it.
• All 5 of Google’s strategic initiatives for 2011 revolve around mobile
• 544.6 million text messages were sent in Q2 of 2010

Online Reviews

• 62% of consumers read reviews online before making a purchase
• 62% of people trust online ratings and reviews of people they don’t know
• 18% of people who were contacted by a company after they had left a negative review ended up buying more from that company in the future
• 33% of those mentioned above removed their negative review, and 34% went on to write a positive review about their experience.
• A bad review online shouldn’t be seen as a threat. It is a great opportunity to address the problem, satisfy that customer, and show others that you care.

Quotes

• “How do you demand innovation, creativity and radical rethinking if you can’t imagine it?” – Avinash Kaushik
• “My three year old son will look at a keyboard the a same way I look at a rotary phone” – Mitch Joel
• “Plugging your computer into a phone line to get Internet ten years ago was so barbaric. Look how far we’ve come.” – Mitch Joel
• “Your brand isn’t what you say it is, it’s what Google says it is.” – Chris Anderson
• “Never do anything in marketing that doesn’t add economic value to your company.” – Mitch Joel
• “Incorporate your digital marketing efforts into your marketing mix. Think “with” not “instead of”.”
• “Just because someone is on Facebook all day it doesn’t make them a Social Media Marketing expert. I turn the lights on when I walk into a room, am I an electrician? No. “ – Mitch Joel
• “Display will grow into a $200 billion market” – Eric Schmidt
• “Search is the connection between intent and content.” – Bill Barnes

That’s all folks! Two days of intense sessions with lots of great insights and takeaways. Have you considered these strategies when it comes to marketing your business online?

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Search Marketing Expo Toronto Recap is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel