Rather than simply share my opinion, let's make it democratic. I've built a short list of the Top 10 overlooked tactics I see in the professional search marketing sphere. These aren't the mistakes that websites make when trying to appeal to search engines, but rather, the omissions that we, as professional marketers and consultants, let pass by.
If you've got more to share, please enlighten us :)
Ugghh. I'm realizing this poll isn't quite optimal (too long, too many choices, etc.). Oh well, I suppose everyone has an off-blogging night, eh? A free thumbs up to whoever guesses what I would vote for first, BTW.
How about link building strategies??? All too often you see a firm get to the 'end' of their redesign and just give up, when the real work comes after the fact....
Good call, Bud...I've seen that a lot too.
I can't count the amount of times on all my fingers and toes that someone - a friend, a client, or friend of a client, etc. - has called to ask me why their rankings TANKED after the site was redesigned, only for me to find out that the URLs changed and weren't redirected - html to php, etc.
This isn't just the type of mistake a mom-n-pop shop makes either. I've seen this come out of major web design firms that supposedly have their own in-house "SEO" department. In other words, one of the guys gets paid to write meta tags.One of my current clients is a catalog company. The web accounted for about 20% of the revenue. Everything was centered on direct mail. Less than a year after beginning SEO the web accounts for about 60% of total revenues and they STILL center all decisions on direct mail. I can't send out product announcements to bloggers until the catalog drops on everyone else's porch because the system is set up to have items in stock and ready to shop on that date - no sooner. By the time I tell the blogger, they already know about the product because some other company is selling it.
So my point is #1 AND #2 options are both huge problems, but I seem to see #1 (lack of proper 301s) more often. And the fact that it is just such a silly mistake that could be so easily avoided really irks me. But hey - that's why I have a job, so I shouldn't complain.
Everett,
I'm blown away too by how many professional web firms don't engage proper use of 301 redirects.
Using site polls to gather user opinion would have been a good addition ;-)
How about "Writing stories with the words 'Top Ten' in them"
Take a look at the top stories on Digg or del.icio.us or ReddIt and notice how many of them contain numbered lists of things. People just seem drawn to this kind of story. It creates a tension in their mind that they feel compelled to resolve no matter how prosaic the topic ('Top ten tips for getting wax out of carpet? Sure, I'll Digg it.')
It's the idea that there's things other than hard work, that some people are doing that you aren't, and that this top x numbered list is going to give you a magic pill that'll sort it all out.
And people just like big round numbers. :)
We've only had a few comments so far but it looks like 'offline marketing' is starting to run away with it already. Hell, I even voted for it myself!
In my opinion, a lot of SEM's get way too caught up in the online world and don't give enough consideration to other marketing channels and the integration that goes with them. Some people might be justified in ONLY looking at SEM as that is their only role within a company, but these online tactics have to complement and support other marketing activities.
To give an example in the offline world, a one-off direct mail flyer or a single advert in a magazine will have little, if any, impact. Combine it with a targeted email, search engine marketing, phone calls, personal visits and merchandising all based on a key message or product and BANG, conversions shoot up.
In my industry, the majority of enquiries come via the web, but there are so many other areas I have to seriously take into consideration then designing a marketing campaign, ranging from exhibitions and open houses through to direct mail and merchandising. The hard part for me is knowing where to devote my energies in order to achieve the biggest return for the investment or effort I expend. I would love to spend more time in the online world, but I have to make it work alongside other activities. Oh, to have an intern to help me! *sigh....*
As someone working for an online news agency who has offline advertising that hasn't been changed in 2 years and so is basically ignorable because it is so familiar (while the site changes), I had to vote for integration of online and offline.
One of the news items we are covering is broadcasting and how they have to embrace the new social media and not go the music route.
Viacomm and YouTube is so obviously a mistake when the BBC goes and does a deal. Sheesh. The BBC - ahead of the pack - cats and dogs living together - mass chaos!
I'm biased here, as it's my specialty, but integrating offline campaigns with online presence would have to be mine, followed very closely by landing page testing and tracking.
And I'm not even going to try and guess!
I'm guessing that Rand voted for action tracking. He loves that stuff :P
Edit: Not many people voted for action tracking, I see. I think it's a cool feature... if you've never used it and you suddenly do, you may be very surprised at the ways in which people get to your site and, more importantly, what they do when they get there.
Speaking of purchasing domains and re-directing for traffic, I was reminded of you guys on my drive home today as I was stuck behind a truck for SEAMAZZ (and yes, their website is www.seamazz.com). I'd suggest a strategic partnership, but I'm not sure exactly how you fit into the frozen fish industry :)
where there's a search marketer, there's a way ;)
Frozen fish...Fishkin...we could make it work!
I'd have to agree with the offline/online... although, I'm not certain, but I may have hit the organic/paid data.... sorry, not enough coffee yet.
I'm pretty sure your choice isn't verifying/submitting sitemaps!
Kind of a toss up between the online/offline and the analytics, but I'll go out on the limb and guess you would lean towards the offline/online as well.
And yes, the polls are great way to get a nice visual on the overall consensus and opinions.
Thought you might be interested in this......
https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6422279.stm
That's just wrong.
Okay, not really. I've heard that as well and fully believe it. Luckily for me, I can go without and not be too affected. I think it is more routine than anything else. The only thing I have to watch out for is drinking caffeine late... I barely sleep as it is and the just puts it all over the edge.
I was glad to see integrating offline and online (my vote) had so many votes. NBC has a great integration going on. I wrote about this on our staff blog just last night.
As a copywriter, I would like to be able to work with clients on said integration. I mean, linkbaiting isn't really all that different than some offline marketing campaigns, is it? If the end goal is business, profit, votes, or whatever - then integration is key.
"Integration of Offline Campaigns Into Online Projects" took my vote for sure. It's not something I am always focusing on. I tend to focus on the web-side more often as that is where everything seems to happen
"I tend to focus on the web-side more often as that is where everything seems to happen"
I know several people for whom the reverse is true. And I'm going to be running a campaign soon where the purchase order and salesy stuff is all online, but 90% of the promotion will be done offline. I'm not going to bother much with SEO or PPC. Just classified ads, using media promotion, and press releases/packs.
It's just a better way to promote that particular product, due to it's push rather than pull nature.
Well now, there's a paradigm for you. I assumed the option meant that traditional media didn't add search to the mix. But Klickhir and Pete see it the other way around. I think I'll pitch Danny on making a new session on that for the next SES.
For my guess on your vote... Purchasing domains, redirects etc. right?
That's what I voted for anyhow. I think many non-designer SEO's pass on great design at first to concentrate on content, but certainly usability is important at first so I am not sure if design and usability belong together in this poll. Another one I see many SEM's pass over now are meta keywords.
BTW, I didnt think it was too long or has too many choices! I bet you get a lot more 'others' added.
My thoughts exactly, I voted the same. I expected more votes for it than I saw. I like that there were so many choices. This way you can see the different points of view and ways of thinking.
I have to go with Rand placing them together on the list. Aside from the issue of keeping the poll size manageable, which is one reason to put the two together....
SEO practicioners are not website designers, not in the graphics sense. However, good graphics--just like good object placement--affects usability. Good usability affects reputation for humans. When humans like websites they bookmark and link to them.
I've not voted yet, still chewing the sud so to say, but I think a lot of SEO practicioners do not fully think through design and usability and its impact on the ability to attract organic links.
Rand's post demonstrates ingenious design by the way. By using a PollDaddy.com poll he emphasized a list of features AND BENEFITS that his company offers far more effectively than simply typing them. He has also told his customers and prospects, "Others do not. We do. Here are some of the ways SEOmoz goes the extra mile to make sure your money is best spent with us, these are assurances that you will receive the best service, highest value, and most effective results."
Rand is selling SEOmoz without saying, "Buy from us." He said it much more stronlgly than he would had he just written, "Here are things SEOmoz does to go the extra mile!" Qualified prospects who read this blog will take notice. Lots of SEM bloggers are going to see this poll and link to it. This post eschews design and usability for the benefit of marketing optimization, in search and beyond. This post effectively demonstrates why design and usability belong together in this poll.
My vote (and a guess of Rand's choice) goes for "Integration of Offline Campaigns Into Online Projects".
I think the fact that sometimes an SEO has little (if any) control of a client's offline campaign contributes to this tactic been "overlooked".
Definately using offline promotion. No contest.
Coming from the offline marketing world, I agree. It's no contest. Madison Avenue continues to ignore the effect and often the very existence of web at its peril.
There's a session specifically address the issue at SES NY this year. Hope it's well attended.
Although not a complete holistic mix of offline and online, but perhaps an example of at least some form of blending.
Big Blue shifting from traditional ads
At our Company there are a couple overlooked tactics, I must say:
- Employing action tracking in analytics
- Landing page testing
I'd agree with you Rand. For our company we drive people to our communities from our website, but then don't drive who come visit the community to our website for more info. It's is definitely a big miss for us, but something I/we are working on.
I agree with the results here..
1) Offline to Online Translation of Campaigns
2) Action Tracking / Testing
3) Conversion Tracking / Testing
I voted for Landing Page testing because I find when you get some successful results on a particular landing page you stop testing to see if you can get even better!
I voted for the offline/online integration. Most people I encounter seem focused on one or the other, but not always both. This is certainly an over generalization, but I think many who were in marketing prior to the web stick offline marketing or try to replicate it exactly online and those who entered marketing after the web tend to focus on it and exclude some of the things that have been working for the last century.
But I could have easily voted for several. I'm still surprised by the number of sites I see that have failed use 301 redirects. I might also vote for integrating web 2.0 features if the question was changed to integrating them in a way that makes sense. Everyone's tossing them in there and too often just to have them them there.
I think it happens less now, but design and usability are still overlooked more than they should be and I agree with you Rand that testing and refining landing pages probably isn't done as often as it could or should be.
I voted for landing page testing myself. It is something that in the past I had not paid as much attention to as I should have. I have recently started monitoring my landing pages and making changes and it has made a big difference in conversion rates for me.
I added this in my "Other" vote but my experience has been that most of the time a client site has a number of duplicate sites/urls that were built before the client joined the company and everyone has forgotten they exist. 301ing these sites back to the main url could be the biggest bang for the SEO buck. I guess this could be considered "accurate us of 301s" but you have to know what to 301 before you can do it accurately. Maybe I should call this "make a complete url inventory".
I think we are guilty of overlooking one or more of the things on Rands' list, regularly - but off-line Marketing is the one we fall short on time and again and have to remind ourselves how valuable it is.
Here's one not mentioned that works extremely well in the market we operate in. (Travel). Appeal to the future buyer...Provide content, content, content then go back and add some more content!Travel has become very "spammy" - literally millions of travel sites and blogs are set up purely for spam/link purposes. A way to ensure our sites avoid the "spam clutter" is to include non-commercial content to the sites regularly, preferably in equal or higer quantities than the commercial content.
It achieves a number of things - we stay out of the "travel spam" loop, we entice potential future travellers to spend time on the site just reading and informing themselves (hopefully they return and book via our sites later when they have decided on their destination) and finally - all that content is marvellous link-bait with natural one-way links coming in daily from far and wide including from .edu and the occasional .gov sites.
So I have to say in my market one of the most overlooked search marketing tactics is looking forward to the future purchaser - Entice them now with content - regularly updated and added to - placed for no other purpose than to inform ... they will be back to book via your sites in the future.
Rand:
I imagine you voted for integration of offline and online.
My vote goes for creating a genuine community among users and providing a mechanism for them to interact. I think this is a different category than web 2.0 features. Social Media Optimization has gotten a lot of buzz, but it only really works when you have a passionate community of users...like SEOMoz.
BTW, I like the new UI and features, by in large.
How about keeping upto date with current trends and developments through forums, blogs, feeds, events, networking with other professionals? - or was that overlooked?
I voted for Action Tracking in Analytics and I'm sure you would as well :-p
I'm really liking seeing polls here; gives the community a voice per say.
To make things better could you write up an article based on the leading issue from this poll? I reckon the leading issue is the integration of offline campaigns... :D
I voted for: Accurate Use of 301 re-directs to Collect Link/Ranking/Traffic Value
I need to revisit this as I've often times overlooked this item in most of my sites. Thanks a ton for the great list.
I did 301 - personally for me I have fallen down here over the years
I always add a Sitemap too - G Sitemap that is
David
Despite it being second in the poll, no one guessed that my "most overlooked tactic" (from personal opinion and experience) is actually... drum roll...
Landing Page Testing & Refinement to Boost Conversion Rates
I think that although there are a few conversion experts out there doing work on this, it's remarkable how many SEO folks (myself included) spend time getting traffic and boosting rankings, when a fantastic source of ROI that's often much more "low-hanging fruit" is landing page work.
So ... is it the 301 redirect one?
I thought it was SOP.
Are you saying it isn't?
Good point. Good point.
Though your personal view and what we thought may have differed please still do an integration of Online/Offline campaigns! :)
that was my choice too Rand. I totally agree, and I must humbely admit I should be spending more time on this. Nothing like the present!
Coordinating data from paid and organic is a big hurdle for us here....too much data in too many different formats. blah!
Rand for you I would Say you voted action tracking, hey i got evidence: https://www.seomoz.org/blog/when-an-action-comes-around-you-must-track-it and you saying you're a junkie, https://www.seomoz.org/blog/action-tracking-by-referral-source-the-linkbait-bump.
I voted offline/online. I think there is not much importance placed on particular.
Rand:
That's not fair. You really think an SEM professional would admit to not doing landing page optimziation to improve conversion?
I'm admitting to it, aren't I? And anonymously, it's the second most common item in the poll above, too. :)
There are now some tools out there to do landing page optimization, including one from Google. It's still a difficult thing to pin point...
Google Sitemaps is not a great tactic for SEO. It´s a great tool, but not the most important thing to do. REAL sitemap (that useras also can use), onpage and a offpage-strategie is more important in my value.
A nice initiativ by Google - but just one more thing from Google to lock us with SEO for Google.
The point of a sitemap is getting everything to appear. And as for the
"A nice initiativ by Google - but just one more thing from Google to lock us with SEO for Google."
comment, that's just not the case. Yahoo! and MSN support it too. And before they all supported the one format, the only difference was you would need 3. Sitemaps aren't anything new, or a "lock in" with Google in any way shape or form.
You do know that XML sitemaps are now supported by all of the big 3 right? (ok, MSN in name only, but eventually...)
Note to self: Don't take so long to respond next time, otherwise other people sneak in and give the same answer. ;)
Smooth :) Don't worry, we've all done it...