Jill Whalen recently published a good article in her High Rankings newsletter about what kind of search engine optimization (SEO) efforts are realistic. Interestingly, what she wrote was based on an article she published in 2005. Ironic, since although so much has changed in SEO… some core principles NEVER change.

Here are some of the concepts Jill Whalen articulated which I think deserve special mention:

• Websites that are a few years old have an advantage. Most SEO experts agree that all things being equal, the search engines will rank older sites higher than newer ones. Similarly, if you’ve just registered a new domain name, don’t get too hung up over your initial SEO results. As Jill Whalen says, this is a big reason why SEO is a long-term proposition.

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TechCrunch reports that YouTube is cracking down on sexually explicit videos (porn is already banned) and, in what should put Internet marketers on notice, ’spam videos’ with misleading titles and descriptions.

A popular tactic among those in-the-know is to use titles and descriptions for their YouTube videos that tie in with popular search phrases… but may not exactly reflect the content of a given video.

It’s not clear that YouTube plans to combat that kind of thing per se - it seems more interested in overtly spammy and misleading videos - but it may be on the cards. YouTube’s owner is, after all, Google.

Source: Erick Schonfeld, “YouTube Cracks Down On Sexy, Spammy Videos And Ning Closes Its Red Light District”, TechCrunch, December 2, 2008

Compiling keyword lists is an integral part of search engine marketing. It’s arguably an integral part of niche research too. But if you’re relying solely on ‘keyword tools’ to compile your lists, you may be missing out on some significant opportunities.

By their very nature, tools that track the popularity of keywords are retrospective, rather than forward-looking. On that basis, if you’re able to identify terms about to become popular - or jump on terms that have just become popular - you may be able to achieve some quick, significant wins in terms of generating and converting traffic.

Therefore a sound approach to keyword compilation is to use a good tool to identify the quality words in your niche, as well as use a ‘nose for news’ to identify promising words.

MarketingSherpa recommends using a two-step approach where you begin with proprietary research to compile an initial list, and then use a reliable tool to generate a more finely tuned list. To compile the general list:

1. Consider your own product names, terms used on your site, and internal site search query terms.
2. Look at industry marketing materials, press releases and similar content.
3. Research online forums, blogs and social media sites for what words your target audience is using.
4. Perform competitive analysis of how other companies are positioning their sites and search ads.

After your initial research is done, the next step is to use a keyword research tool to fine-tune your overall list:

5. Use the tool to generate additional, related terms.
6. Check your existing list for estimates of search volume and competition ie. for pay-per-click (PPC) and organic search engine marketing purposes.
7. Look through historical search queries for any unusual search syntax to help you generate new search phrases

Source: MarketingSherpa, “Special Report: Online Keyword Research Guide: 5 Tips & 9 Useful Tools”, MarketingSherpa, Jun 26, 2008

Google has begun testing video ads aimed at specific YouTube searches.

Much like how Google AdWords serves up ads based on search phrases, Google wants to serve up video ads that match the search phrases typed into YouTube’s search box.

The idea is that when someone types in a phrase, up will come a video ad, along with the search results. The ad will, for example, link to the advertiser’s YouTube channel.

YouTube spokesman Aaron Zamost says Google is currently testing “a wide range of options to find the right advertising format, for the right content.”

Source: Miguel Helft, “Search Ads Come to YouTube”, The New York Times, October 13, 2008

It can be highly tempting to rely SOLELY on keyword research tools. Both to indicate what keywords your target market is using to find your kinds of products and services, and what keywords to target for search engine optimization.

After all, the good tools reflect what people are actually searching on… not anyone’s opinion or theory of what they’re searching on.

But are they the be-all and end-all?

Then answer is NO.

There are two main problems with the data generated by even the best keyword tools:

1. It’s retrospective - it tells us what people have searched on in the past, not necessarily what they will search on in the future. Now, depending on your market, people may not use significantly different keywords going forward. On the other hand, you could miss out on huge opportunities to capitalize on the most topical issues and developments by focusing entirely on past search queries. For example, it took one announcement for searches on words related to Governor Sarah Palin to skyrocket in the search engines.
2. A lot of your competitors are not only looking at the same data but may also be typing in those keywords, thereby distorting how often your target market really is using various search phrases. Again, this may not be significant… but if you’re in a hyper-competitive market it may be significant enough for you to make erroneous decisions about which keywords to target.

By all means use a quality keyword research tool (some good ones are listed below). But I also recommend keeping abreast of what’s happening in your industry and the media for news that may impact on what people search on… and what keywords YOU target for search engine marketing purposes.

Tools I like:

• Wordtracker: http://www.wordtracker.com
• Keyword Discovery: http://www.keyworddiscovery.com
• Google AdWords Keyword Tool: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Fun article by Jill Whalen in High Rankings Adviser. Ms Whalen admits to being a Google Analytics “junkie” and explains how she uses the website analytics tool for multiple purposes beyond simply tracking her search engine statistics.

For example, when she’s needed reassurance that writing articles for other publications has been worthwhile she’s simply checked her stats to see how much traffic she’s received from those sites, and what percentage have ended up subscribing to her newsletter.

I like the way she thinks. Nothing like the motivational boost you get from some cold, hard facts (or as close to “facts” as Google Analytics can provide).

On the other hand, I guess it could be depressing to discover that all those article directories you’ve spent months hand-submitting unique articles to… have delivered NO traffic, much less any converting traffic!

And then there are those traffic sources that have delivered a ton of traffic… which doesn’t convert at all. Ms Whalen mentions StumbleUpon as being a major culprit here.

Similarly, she notes that while 60 percent of her website traffic comes from search engines, a lot of it doesn’t convert. That’s to be expected. The more content-rich your site, the more people will come to it via all kinds of wacky and weird search phrases. If, however, you have optimized your website for the search engines, you’ll attract a significant number of search engine visitors who ARE your target market and who will convert very well.

Google Analytics is also great for revealing information ABOUT your target market (not just where they come from). For example, you can get a good sense of not only how advanced and elaborate your website should be, but also how technical your visitors are, by considering the percentage of visitors who use the various web browsers used by your website visitors. It was interesting to find, for example, that over 70 percent of visitors to a corporate site I’m working with use Internet Explorer, whereas only about 43 percent of visitors to the Kikabink site use IE. Different horses for different courses!

All in all, Jill Whalen’s article is a welcome reminder to set aside some time to analyze your website statistics. Regardless of whether you use Google Analytics or some other web statistics program, you may just uncover some “pearls” that could impact on your marketing, product development or other aspects of your business.

This is powerful information - real data about YOUR website - that may be far more pertinent and instructive than any general research study findings.

Source: Jill Whalen, “Measuring Success Beyond the Search Engines”, High Rankings Adviser, September 10, 2008

Over the coming week, Google plans to introduce “auto-complete” functionality called “Google Suggest” on its Google.com homepage.

Google Suggest will display the most commonly searched phrases after a user enters in a few letters of their search, helping them reduce typing time and check for spelling errors.

Source: Jason Kincaid, “4 Years Later, Google Suggest Finally Goes Primetime”, TechCrunch, August 25, 2008

Last week the Search Engine Roundtable published the transcript from a panel of search engine marketing experts. Up for discussion were some little known truths about pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

Three (3) such truths are:

1. The long-tail is NOT never-ending. Search is becoming more navigational, with more search engine users typing in brand and trademark queries than obscure search phrases.
2. Search engine marketing is not about doing hundreds of different things… like most endeavors, success comes from doing a few things really well.
3. Advertising in the search engines may NOT always be best - for example, advertising in the content networks may be preferable for new products for which there are no or few searches.

Source: Search Engine Roundtable, “5 Things No One Will Tell You About SEM”, Search Engine Roundtable, August 19, 2008