Earlier today a press release went out announcing that Google is now offering free websites to Canadian businesses as part of their “Get Your Business Online” program, you can check out the full release here. The most interesting stat from the release isn’t really shocking when you consider it: “According to Google estimates, as many as 1.2 million businesses in Canada do not have a website because they see it as too costly, too complicated, not necessary, or all three.” So basically they want to ease the process of setting up a website and as a result they’re going to offer it for free – pretty awesome if you ask me. After that I’m sure they’ll be offering tips on how to set up a solid AdWords program so that eventually they can get these businesses into advertising online – which I have absolutely no problem with.
If anything this is exciting news for SEO companies and professionals in Canada as more and more Canadian business owners will be taking their businesses online and will need help in order to get the most potential business off the web. Google’s free website program will get the business owner excited and once they set up their AdWords account they will start to realize that they’ve probably been missing out on a massive stream of business for however long they’ve hesitated taking their business online. Then they’ll eventually need to do more online marketing than just AdWords and will try to find a cost effective way to make the most out of SEO. Since they haven’t invested thousands of dollars into a website they should be better off and more financially prepared to make an investment into both SEO and AdWords respectively. Any business owner must be extremely excited about this announcement today but web designers everywhere must be shaking as the web services offered by Yola are actually pretty decent and looks like they also have the ability and resources to help customize your site and handle the build for a few extra bucks.
The fact that this program is also sponsored by RBC, Rogers, Globe and Mail and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce indicates that this program isn’t going to stop any time soon. Between this announcement and the constant advertisements for the Yellow Pages 360 web advertising platform the awareness of internet marketing services in Canada has never been higher – definitely exciting times for all!
Over the past few years I’ve seen cost effective SEO strategies implemented and executed effectively for hundreds of websites ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small local business owners and professionals. In my opinion they all follow more or less the same 4 step process which my good friend and colleague Wisam Abdulaziz, the best SEO expert I know, outlined in his post. The whole point of any SEO strategy or any marketing is to bring a return on investment, so you need to make sure you follow this 4 step process and don’t overspend on any of the different stages and I’ll expand on that point as I address each step of the process in detail.
Step 1: Performing in-depth Keyword Research and Competitive Analysis
In this process you should use keyword research tools (one of the best is the Google Keyword Tool which is free – just be sure to always use exact match when searching and choose your targeted country in the advanced options interface). From here you should be able to get a feeling for what keywords you want to target based off the search volumes. However, the next step is to do some competitive analysis to see what keywords you should choose to target. Sometimes keywords are either: to competitive, to general, or not geotargeted enough to warrant investing a good link building campaign towards.
If this is the case you have a couple options: you can first pick the “low hanging fruit” – meaning keywords that are less competitive but you will rank for quicker. Or you can choose to go after the big keywords but just understand that they will take longer. I usually think a mix of both is good, focus on some easier keywords to earn the client’s trust and to prove that SEO works while laying the groundwork for the tougher keywords to be targeted in a couple months time.
The competitiveness and number of keywords you choose will heavily influence your monthly budget so you really need to make sure you choose the right keywords in order to get a good return on your SEO and link building investment. A good SEO expert should always lay out different package options and fully explain why they have selected specific keywords to target with their campaign.
Step 2 Perform Content Mapping
Once you have chosen your targeted keywords you need to match these up with pages from your website. It’s not recommended to target the homepage with every keyword so you need to pick your top set of keywords to target the homepage with and then consider which deeper pages of the site could be targeted as well. If you have specific product pages or city locations you should always target these pages in the long run, as it will provide a better search experience then having your potential customer navigate through your site in order to find their desired product/service. Sometimes this is not possible, so you can either consider adding new pages of content, or understand that the more keywords you have = the more diluted your budget will be as it’s spread across the number of keywords you target per page.
Step 3 Perform On Page Optimization to Target Selected Keywords
This is an absolutely crucial step that most companies attempt to do, but usually implement ineffectively. First off, on page factors really only account for about 25% of the entire search algorithm so you really want to make sure you have done a great job maximizing the opportunities. Make sure your targeted keywords are in the title tags, meta descriptions, image alt tags, header tags, and have a decent keyword density within your content as well. So many times I see these expensive, snazzy looking websites all built in flash with terrible navigation structure and no content at all. At the end of the day on page optimization is your chance to theme your website for Google, so don’t waste valuable opportunity saying “Welcome to My Website”! TELL Google what your website is about as much as possible without being spammy. On page optimization is always a trade off between what’s best for the search engines and what’s best for the user – but either way you need to fulfill the basics.
One more thing, on page optimization is a ONE TIME SHOT. I have been shocked and appalled more than once when I hear horror stories from companies claiming that they have been told in the past to perform a quarterly on page optimization review for ridiculous amounts of money. People, unless you are drastically changing your website or your targeted keywords there really is no need to perform on page optimization more than once, albeit except for maybe a few small tweaks here and there to test for usability purposes. Another thing, if you have a massive product site and think that you should spend thousands optimizing every single tag for every single page instead of investing in link building, you are clearly mistaken as once again, on page optimization really only accounts for about 25% of the search algorithm. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying not to invest in on page optimization; it’s just you need to be careful and understand that as long as the basic elements are present (keywords placed prominently in the title tag, meta description, header and image alt tags, content on page) then the page is ready to be targeted with backlinks.
Step 4 Link Building Execution
A good link building strategy is imperative for any cost effective search engine optimization campaign. Even if you perform the best on page optimization possible, chances are you still will not rank well for many of your targeted keywords unless you already have an extremely authoritative site or massive amount of organic backlinks. Each month link building strategies such as directory submissions, content creation and syndication, social media outreach, blogposts, sitelinks and more need to be performed in order to achieve the desired rankings. ALL these strategies need to be natural, organic and make sure they adhere to Google’s guidelines regarding link building. Two keys to any good link building strategy that I always talk about are link variation and link velocity:
Link variation – make sure each month you focus on a wide range of link building strategies and vary the anchor texts used in the backlinks as much as possible.
Link velocity – watch the rate at which you build links very closely. It’s very easy for Google to detect a sudden spike in backlinks so even if you are really excited about SEO and link building but have no links when starting understand that SEO isn’t a quick fix for your business – it takes time so be patient – slow and steady wins the race as it’s not worth risking your online presence in an attempt to game the search engines.
All these 4 steps above are necessary for any cost effective SEO campaign but at the end of the day the process doesn’t differ much, it just changes in size, scope and budget. Any budget decided upon needs to affordable for the business owner to absorb. Ranking improvements don’t happen over night, results should definitely be expected within 90 days but for competitive keywords to crack the first page of Google it can take 6 months and beyond. So any budget agreed upon should be enough to effectively target and achieve rankings for the selected keywords without breaking the bank for the business owner at the same time.
The final step of the process is to always measure incoming traffic based on the keyword rankings using a tool like Google Analytics. If you obtain great rankings and adequate search traffic doesn’t follow then you need to start all over again at step 1 and identify new keywords. Conversely, if you are already getting good leads from a keyword on the second page, then you should invest more heavily or target that keyword better with the existing SEO budget.
Keep open communication between the business owner and SEO company/expert and make sure that everyone is always up to date with monthly ranking reports and even link building examples where required. To ensure the SEO campaign is cost effective and implement properly remember to always stay true to the 4 step process!
Well the big date is finally approaching! Ash scene has finally chilled out and barring any other unforeseen natural disasters I’ll be off to Europe in a couple days. I’m extremely excited to say the least as my best buddy and I have been planning this trip for over 18 months now. This is my first time going to Europe and I just can’t wait to experience a wider breadth of cultures and environments and really expose myself to all that these cities and countries have to offer.
At the same time as I prepare myself for a once in a lifetime opportunity I just want to take a few minutes to reflect on the past couple years and highlight some personal successes as well as some work accomplishments. I was originally planning to really pimp this post out but due to time constraints just going to lay it out there:
- Last month had the privilege to speak at SMX about Google Sitelinks (on the organic side of course). Was a really nice way to cap off my two year anniversary in the industry that I’ve come to know and love so was really cool to be speaking alongside the names of many of the top dogs in the internet marketing scene. It actually went really well and was really pleased with my first shot at public speaking; hopefully I get some more opportunities in the future.
- Couple months ago took part in a group interview on Search Engine Land featuring 30 of the top link builders out there. This was probably the coolest for me as I literally have read a very high percentage of all of these SEO/link building experts work that has been published and truly respect their work in the industry. So to be included alongside all of them was really awesome as I wrote about earlier in a previous post. Here are the three parts of the group interview:
http://searchengineland.com/backlink-analysis-20-uses-beyond-link-building-part-3-of-3-39141
- I’ve also written over a dozen posts since I started for Search Engine People, and am quite proud of them and think they really offer a lot of value; especially for beginners starting out in the industry. Just want to record them all for historic purposes so here they all are. A few of them have even been featured on some of the top sites on the industry including MediaPost, Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal and a couple of others.
- The first post I ever wrote!
http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/the-art-of-eluding-google-is-it-even-possible.html
- Two part series on search queries for link building (still holds true today!):
- One of my favourite posts of all time and I still use these same core tools ’till this very today and start all my SEO training with these essential tools (and my SEO spheel which I’ve pretty much gotten down to perfection these days):
http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/cool-tools-firefox-extensions-for-seo-enthusiasts.html
- Massive series on paid directories within link building and SEO:
http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/the-history-of-paid-directories.html
http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/link-building-101-the-power-of-directories.html
http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/link-building-101-the-power-of-directories-part-3.html
http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/top-25-most-powerful-web-directories-list.html
- Another one of my all time favourite posts:
http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/identify-nofollow-juiceless-links-guide.html
- From last year when I live blogged SES for Search Engine People:
http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/the-ins-and-outs-of-twitter-ses-toronto-day-1.html
- And a two part series I wrote about recently regarding tips for crawlability and indexability:
http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/crawlability-enhancers-tips-for-deep-crawling-success.html
http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/3-indexability-tips-maintaining-indexed-pages.html
I believe that’s all the posts although to be honest not 100% sure, either way at least most of them are now documented here.
-My drumming has improved dramatically! Got a pretty killer drumset these days, at least my cymbals and snare drum are kickass; actual drums are pretty shwag but ah well, I’ll upgrade one day. When I get back from Europe going to try and start posting some clips of me rocking out in an attempt to get my name out there a bit and hopefully start gigging again in the TO music scene; been too long since I rocked out onstage.
- On a personal level, my health has improved dramatically and really looking forward to getting back from Europe to take this area of my life to the next level and finally be pain free once and for all! Old hockey/rugby injuries plus a shitload of time in front of a computer aren’t a good combination let’s just leave it at that. But after hours and hours of health professionals working on me (physio, chiro, naturo, osteo, massage, and more – I’m not kidding) I’m pretty much a little health expert on my own so now know what it takes to be pain free so excited about that and think the nice 7 week vacation will definitely help me out 
That’s what I’m most looking forward to is just to refresh myself both mentally and physically and really let loose and have the time of my life in Europe. So on that note, should probably start packing sooner or later so be back in a couple months to hopefully post at a more consistent rate but happy I got this one off my shoulders before I left; wasn’t what I originally planned for but it will do, at least it’s out there now.
I’m out of here; Watch out Europe Here I Come! PEACE!
That’s right! Had the opportunity to be involved in an amazing group interview on backlink analysis conducted by Garrett French for Search Engine Land. The first part of this three part series went live the other day and if you haven’t read it already make sure you check it out here. Got to say it was a real honour being included with the likes of some of these names including Aaron Wall, Eric Ward, Ann Smarty, Debra Masteler and many other of the creme de la creme of the link building world.
The first post asked some great questions about covering backlink analysis in campaign design. You can check out my answers and additional insights below:
1.) When and why do you perform backlink analysis?
Backlink analysis is absolutely crucial to get a solid insight into what previous efforts have been done for a client or for a potential client. Before starting on any SEO campaign for a client (or even when pitching clients) I do a complete, exhaustive backlink analysis to see both the amount of links, and the different types of links (articles, directories, blogs, social media sites) that have been built already. Even more importantly is to thoroughly analyze the anchor texts used in order to give you a complete insight into their current “link profile”. This helps determine what kind of link building strategy I need to execute both in terms of link velocity and link variation.
Additional Insights
So basically my answer was every single time when either pitching or working on a client site. But I also perform backlink analysis whenever evaluating sites that I buy for my own network, or sites that I may be interested in trying to acquire links from. You really can’t tell the authority of a website without looking at its backlinks and evaluating its link profile.
I mentioned a few things above but also forgot some basic elements like the PR and age of the backlinks, but that’s pretty much a given. However aged links really are weighed more heavily so felt I should include this point even if it goes without saying.
2.) How does backlink analysis inform or affect your link building campaigns?
Backlink analysis has huge implications on any link building campaign. As I mentioned, by analyzing the current amount of backlinks you can then set your campaign strategy both in terms of link velocity and link variation. For example, if a client had very few backlinks, you know that you need to take your time and only use the absolute safest link building practices with lots of anchor text variation. On the other hand, if the client has a massive amount of backlinks with lots of link and anchor variation already then it’s a completely different story. In this case, you know that you don’t need to be as concerned with the speed at which you build links, but need to concentrate on higher end link building strategies with focused anchor texts as the basics have already been mostly covered.
Additional Insights
Don’t really have that much additional input on this question, it’s pretty common knowledge for any good link builder that each client or website is a unique case and therefore needs a customized link building campaign that is tailored based on its current link profile. The quantity and quality of backlinks will give you an immediate indication as to how easy or difficult the project is going to be and also gives crucial insights as to what link building efforts have been done in the past. You really need to gather this information accurately so that you can correctly analyze their link profile and then set your strategy for online ranking domination
3.) What elements of a backlink profile are most useful/telling in competitive analysis?
Great question, after a while all the different factors kind of blend together to tell a story when comparing one site vs the competition, but for those starting out I’d definitely say to first focus on looking at the anchor texts in each backlink profile. You obviously want to see a focus on your targeted keywords but want to ensure that good link variation was properly utilized.
Although the number of backlinks is obviously important, the link variation used is actually a more telling sign of the power of that link profile. Ideally you want to see a variation of link building strategies (articles, directories, blogs, social media, etc. etc.) as well as authoritative mentions (.org, .edu, online newspapers, clubs and business associations). The overall number of links can easily be inflated: whereas getting high authority mentions online cannot, so really can’t stress this point enough.
Additional Insights
I was a bit surprised to find that not many others in the group interview focused as much on the importance of anchor text as I did. I really can’t stress this point enough, for example Search Engine People for years was getting some seriously authoritative links, but we didn’t rank that well for specific regional terms like SEO Toronto until we really started focusing in on that anchor text within our link building efforts. I’ve seen it time and time again with clients too, lots of great links with terrible anchor texts like “visit here” or “click here” or “read more”; sure you may get a nice PR and sitewide links for your brand or domain name but you’re not going to rank for ANY COMPETITIVE KEYWORD without really having keyword targeting anchor texts in your backlink profile.
However, that being said I should mention how easy it can be to rank some major brands when they have all these high authority links but have very few keyword rich anchor texts. Google is literally begging these sites to express what they’re really about through the anchor texts of their links; because as soon as you start some basic link building with keyword targeting they skyrocket up the rankings. So authority mentions are still extremely important, but at end of day I know that the anchor text used is definitely one of the most, if not THE most, important things to analyze within backlink analysis.
Conclusion
Really pleased by the amount of interest this group interview is already getting and can’t wait to see everyone else’s answers for the remaining 6 questions, which will be featured in parts two and three of this three part series on backlink analysis. So be sure to stay tuned and check out Search Engine Land frequently to catch the next post in this great series.