SEO & Online Marketing

Marketing your small business online is not just Marketing 101. You also need an understanding of how search engines find sites (SEO) and how your customers use websites.

4 Things For Better Online Marketing

Social media marketing sites such as Groupon and Living Social are becoming very popular. Many small businesses are using these sites to drive traffic to their website. Given the high cost of using these services, mainly in ‘lost opportunity costs’, it is very important that small businesses, in particular, plan properly.

Unfortunately, social marketing services almost make it too easy. A fill in a few forms and it is done – just sit back and wait for the traffic. However, as with most things, a little planning before hand can greatly improve your selling experience.

However, the basics of all online marketing still apply. Whether you are using Pay Per Click or running social media marketing campaign you need do these four thing:
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Posted: April 19th, 2012 Posted in business, marketing, web design | No Comments »
Author: Michael Regan

Is Google ‘Search Plus Your World’ a Game Changer?

We Think So

You may not familiar with, it was only introduced on Jan 10th, it is the addition, some say bias, of Google+ information into the search results. In less than a week, and so far, only in the US, it has turned search engine marketing on its ear. For those who weren’t prepared it could be a disaster, for the early adpters it could be a real boon.
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Posted: January 15th, 2012 Posted in branding, commentary, Google, marketing, SEO, SERP | No Comments »
Author: Michael Regan

JW Player Tracking Code

At the CV Posse last Thursday the subject of using JW Player with HTML5 came up. I have asked about adding tracking code for analytics to to the script.

Turns out it is fairly easy. This is pretty much copy and paste from the API:
<div id="container">Loading the player ...</div> <script type="text/javascript" src="/jwplayer/jwplayer.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript">// <![CDATA[ jwplayer('container').setup({ flashplayer: '/jwplayer/player.swf', file: 'http://youtu.be/3NmA04QgzaM', height: 270, width: 480, events: { onPlay: function(event) { _gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'Videos', 'Play', 'My Video Title']); } }

}); // ]]></script>

The only part I added was the call to the events. In this case the ‘onPlay’ event calls the ‘_trackEvent’ in Google Analytics.

events: { onPlay: function(event) { _gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'Videos', 'Play', 'My Video Title']); } }

Note: You need to add the comma after the ‘width’ when adding items to the list.

There are a number of events to choose from. I will be adding the onReady and onComplete for tracking. The difference between onPlay and onComplete should give me the number of abandoned views.

Posted: November 26th, 2011 Posted in SEO | No Comments »
Author: Michael Regan

Creating A Microsite

It has been a long time since I posted, but this is important, so I thought a quick post was in order.

I created my first micro site today.

Micro sites are small sites that point back to your main site. I know some supposed SEO experts that say they are a good idea. The theory being the more links to your site the better. That is pure BUNK.

The search engines are getting very good at detecting when they are being manipulated. But even if search engines didn’t detect that these sites were all owned by the same person, their value is still questionable. They are either low value sites with little content that pass no ‘link juice’ or high value sites with great content that only pass some of their ‘link juice’. Why not put all those great content on the main site and get all the ‘link juice’.

So when do you use a Micro Site?

Here is my situation.

I just signed a client, Section 8 Snowsport. They are busily getting ready for a major ski and snowboarding trade show in London. ( Who knew the UK was home to skiing trade shows? ) With very little time to generate any buzz, I am trying an ‘end run.

I registered the name www.section8atmetrosnow.com and made a ‘quick and dirty’ page from content found on the main website. There is very little competition for the shows name ‘Metro Snow’, so hopefully I can get some traction in the search engines before the show is over.

These are my rules for using a micro site.

Short duration – just until the show closes
Keyword rich URL
Low production costs

Posted: September 15th, 2011 Posted in analytics, business, SEM, SEO, SERP | No Comments »
Author: Michael Regan

Client or Customer?

I have just started reading Jay Abraham’s book “Getting Everything You Can Out Of All You’ve Got”. Near the beginning of the book he makes the distinction between ‘client’ and ‘customer’. In the first chapter he quotes Webster’s Dictionary:

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Posted: May 17th, 2011 Posted in business, commentary, marketing | No Comments »
Author: Michael Regan

Marketing Tip – Be Easy to Find

I have been working on a directory and interactive map for local tourism related businesses. The directory is just a simple ‘no frills’ directory, the map has the name and location of the business.

For a variety of reasons I am creating the map manually. Which means I need to get the address for each business being listed. To my amazement, many businesses, particularly restaurants and pubs, don’t have there address on the Home page. Or, if they do it is below the fold, so I have to search for it.

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Posted: May 9th, 2011 Posted in business, marketing, SEM | No Comments »
Author: Michael Regan

Tracking Page Speed in Google Analytics

Google has confirmed that page load speed is one of the 200+ variables that contribute to the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). While there are a number of sites that will tell you how fast your site loads to your location, it would be nice to see how long it takes your site to reach your customers. In addition, once your site gets past a few pages, tracking the load speed of each page become a REAL PAIN.

Google Analytics Site Speed metric has changed that.

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Posted: May 7th, 2011 Posted in analytics, business, Google, SEO | No Comments »
Author: Michael Regan

Facebook – Now You See It – Now You Don’t

Facebook just released a migration tool that lets you migrate your profile to a ‘business page’. And, as with most things Facebook does – it has its own set of twists and turns. Which was fine – I managed to get everything changed on my account.

I planned on doing a few client accounts on Monday, once I had finished testing everything with my own account – but the tool has been removed.
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Posted: April 2nd, 2011 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Author: Michael Regan

Where In the World Are You

I was adding some information to a client’s. The client runs a bed and breakfast in a rural setting and I was adding the locations of restaurants and pubs near their location to their Google map. An easy job, if somewhat boring.

Adding this information requires getting the latitude and longitude of each location. An application at itouchmap.com makes this a simple operation. One option is to put in the address and it will spit out the latitude and longitude.

Problem #1 – the two most popular local pubs didn’t have their address prominently displayed on their websites. In one case the address was there, but way down on the page. In the second case the address was not on the Home page – but on a inner page.

Problem #2 – In both cases the addresses was not found in Google maps. They were using a local variant of the street address ‘Island Hyway S.’. Google shows the same road as ‘Island Hyway W.’ (Which is strange since it is to the East of the ‘Inland Island Hyway’. )

To be fair to Google Maps – it will actually find the right address if you enter the closest town. However, it displays the address as ‘Island Hyway W.’.

Should you be a slave to Google Maps? (MapQuest couldn’t find the address at all.) I guess it depends on whether you want you want only local people to find you?

Posted: February 24th, 2011 Posted in branding, business, Google, SEM | No Comments »
Author: Michael Regan

Getting The Top SERP Just Got Harder

On Oct 27th Google announced a major change in local search results. The changes give more prominence to the Google Places results.

Like the old map search results, the Places results are placed near the top of the page. The map overlay has been enlarged and placed in the right column, previously reserved for Adwords (PPC). Surprisingly, the map overlays the PPC, so as you scroll down the page – the top PPC listings are hidden ‘behind’ the map.
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