June 24, 2010 on 11:25 am
Filed Under:Web
…in short, is a Giant Pain in the Ass.
I’m a pretty sharp guy, and not a lot of things confuse me for too long because I either figure them out or stop caring about them.
This one though, has me utterly perplexed.
Google Analytics and Google AdWords are Two MAJOR features and I think I’ve been able to successfully hook in a new AdWords account to an existing Analytics account about 1 out of 5 times.
20% Googs. That sucks and I’m not happy.
The latest attempt was made while I was logged in as the client even and not just using My Client Centre. I logged in, made sure that Analytics was all set up, went into AdWords, made sure that was all set up, and then went to connect the two. Every profile on that account was available but the main one I wanted.
So I went into the User Manager, to see if there were any other pimps in there trying to ho it up. With client approval, I deleted them, and then went back in to try and connect Analytics through the AdWords interface. Nup, no go.
WTF Google?
This isn’t meant to be a cry for help, it’s just a rant.
Though help would earn a beer, for certain.
Have a good website.
Turns out #1 in Google really is important…
May 27, 2010 on 11:06 am
Filed Under:SEO, Web
I Know! Woulda thunk it?
Search Engine Land has an article on some data that a mob called "Chikita" has run on their assorted sites.
While I am usually loathe to chime in on such a ridiculously obvious concept as "#1 in Google is better than #2 or #3" I do love me some data.
According to the data they ran, the top spot gets twice the clicks as the second spot.
To be honest, I like this kind of stat and I always, ALWAYS try for #1, but with such a hugely diaphonously amorphically ever-changing thing such as Google’s algorithm, who would honestly have the time to spend getting a client from #2 to a #1 spot for any given keyword?
Once again, maybe the folks at Search Engine Land can all hang around and play with their linkfarms and leverage their 50,000 blog posts and articles to try and boost a client for one keyword spot, but I don’t personally know anybody that plays in that kind of sandbox.
That said, the stat that hit me the hardest was where they figured out that a site at #10, the bottom of page one (but still ON page one) gets 143% more traffic than the #11 spot (the TOP of page two, but still ON page two).
143%
That’s a pretty big deal.
And THAT’S the kind of thing a fella can chase as a goal, not something as finely sliced as going from the #2 position to #1.
Going from Page 2 to Page 1 is a much more attainable goal, and I’m pleased to say that I’m at about a 95% rate with my clients and their targeted terms. And for that 5%… I’m actually still working on that, even though they may not even know nor have paid me in months.
Bit of a pride thing, I suppose.
Later folks, and if you’re doing a #2 and want to switch to a #1, I don’t know that I can help you. I’m no urologist. HA!
But if you want to go from Page 2 to the Front Page…
Have a Good Website.
Site Speed a Ranking Factor.
April 12, 2010 on 10:58 am
Filed Under:SEO, Web
It’s Official: Google Now Counts Site Speed As A Ranking Factor an article from Search Engine Land makes me genuinely wonder if they’re somehow not allowed to write articles on things that they speculate on or theorise and instead have to wait for Google to corroborate anything before they write about it.
Because personally, I’ve been telling people that Site Speed is a ranking factor for over a year now. The truth is, it’s safe to say these kinds of things because almost everything is a ranking factor! Even the fact that you link to your site from that blog post you wrote about how tired you are of picking up your dog’s poo.
It ALL gets factored in. Think about it, Googs has to find out what it can about your site from what it’s given. No magic, no guesswork, no pure fabrication (probably), they hit your webserver, download your pages and see who talks about you, and similar stuff, out there on that big ol’ web.
So take every factor you can think of involved in that process above and consider them ALL ranking factors, for they surely are whether Googs blogs about ‘em or not.
Have a Good Website!
Actually Quite Funny
May 22, 2009 on 11:00 am
Filed Under:SEO, Web
Jill Whalen’s article titled, "85 Reasons Why Website Designers/Developers Keep SEOs in Business" actually had me laughing quite heartily, but some of my laughter was in that slightly sad way that wonders why people can’t just learn some simple lessons that will ultimately improve their business.
Meh, we all live and learn and will eventually figure it out when it becomes a deal-breaker I suppose. HA, or the deal gets broken!
Hope you enjoy it though, especially when you either A) look at one and go "Hey, I have a client that thinks that!" or 2) look at one and go, "Hey, *I* used to do that!"
Good times.
Oh NOES, Google Results Using AJAX?!?
February 6, 2009 on 8:45 am
Filed Under:SEO, Web, Around the Web
Search Engine Land plopped an
into my inbox this morning and as I was leaving an insanely long comment on that blog, it occurred to me to just post it here.
I love the hand-flapping and red-flag waving that happens whenever the Googs seems to be messing with our lives.
Sometimes I wonder if they don’t necessarily do it under the auspices of a "better user experience" and only do some of this stuff to create columns like this and put all us poor SEOs in a panic.
I don’t, for one second, believe that Google would do something to their search results that would render their own Analytics tool less-capable. Nor do I believe that they would do anything that could do such damage to the analytics software industry.
Has no one wondered what their motivation for doing such a thing would be?
Seriously, when was the last time Google went and did something that so drastically mucked with all our lives that we got mad at them and lost money and clients and shaved all our cats? The Florida Update? From my memory of the experience, all that did was teach us to be a bit more scrupulous (or at least educated in Google’s "rules") in our search engine optimisation efforts.
So, at the risk of sounding too rational and pragmatic and not handflappy enough, I say "So what?"
Google is testing something and may change the entire way they do things…
So what?
So you may have to change the way you do things as well? So you may have to clean up a few of your processes and applications that you’ve long depended on?
Get real and adapt and adjust or die.
I know I’ll be fine, and No, that doesn’t mean I won’t have to do anything. I may have to work my ass off to get my systems to catch up to an all-AJAX SERP from Google, but that’s fine, because there’s probably a lesson in there about how to do things better.
Alrighty, my rant’s over. Catch you later, and have a good website.
Surely I Can’t Be The Only One…
August 14, 2008 on 11:56 am
Filed Under:Web
In my time in this industry here in Perth, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend. While I’m not naive enough to believe that it’s a new one, I’m still bothered by it.
I keep hearing from business owners, current and prospective clients mostly, that they are almost completely unaware of what kind of revenue their Web Marketing investments are bringing them.
This is not their fault.
Well, not completely anyway.
Again, maybe it’s just me being naive, but shouldn’t telling your client how you’re doing be just another part of the services you provide?
We work in an intimidating industry. Not as intimidating as Wall Street Brokeraging or Contract Killing, but what I mean is that most folks don’t understand 90% of what web professionals do, and the other 10% only know because they’ve either been burnt by a firm and wanted to learn for themselves or they used to actually work in the industry too.
As Web Professionals (web designers, web developers, web marketers) we swoop in and do things that the client doesn’t really understand nor have the time to learn and do themselves, and many have been using that to hide their actual level of service from the client.
Think about it, why is it the client’s responsibility to find out how well YOU are doing for THEM?
In another industry, well let’s take Stocks for example, your broker has to keep you up on how they’re doing for you, and they better be doing it well or you’ll dump them and find another one.
This industry should be no different.
As a Web Marketing Professional, I choose to not only give my clients all the information they ask for and make myself completely transparent to them, but I also suggest to them metrics and benchmarks that they might not have thought of and tell them they should measure me against those as well.
If I’m not getting them a good ROI, then they should know why. If it’s because I’m not doing my job well enough, they should dump me and move on, secure in the knowledge that they now have all the right questions and checklists for their next Web Marketer to ensure that they’re going to get their money’s worth out of them.
As I remarked to a higher-than-average potential client in a meeting earlier this week:
"You should always know how your website’s ROI, otherwise what’s the point in spending money on it?"
Surely I can’t be the only one that feels this way. Somewhere out there, there has to be ethical professionals that actively encourage their clients to be constantly ensuring their value to them.
Paying for visitors instead of clicks
July 24, 2008 on 12:02 pm
Filed Under:Web
Coule be a red herring, a ruse, a bait-and-switch, but I read an article that caught my eye for what basically amounts to the title above. As the rest of the article seemed to be more of a pimping of the company and possibly even they’re advertising scheme, I still liked the concept enough to write my thoughts on it.
Much the same as too much SEO work gets done with little attention paid to conversions, more focus in Pay-Per-Click is put on Impression/Click Through ratio rather than Click Throughs/Goal Pages conversion. Seemingly, the bottom line keeps getting forgotten:
Having your site work for you.
Whether that’s making you money through sales or making you money by driving customers to your shop, shouldn’t you be paying for people that are doing someting on your site other than clicking on it out of curiosity? You spent money on builiding your site and continue to spend money on it to market it, shouldn’t you be getting more than what you spent on it back in your pocket?
So what’s the best way to find out if this is happening?
Simple. Figure out how much you’ve spent vs. how much it’s earning you.
Yeah, I hear you, maybe not so simple. But it should be, and the people you’re paying to market your site should be helping you find out. If they’re not or can’t, sad as it seems it may not actually be an issue of them not wanting you to know if they’re proving their worth or not, it may actually be because they don’t even know how.
Something I’m working to push these days, as a business and as an individual in the industry, is transparency. Accountability goes along with this quite naturally, as does providing clear information and reporting, and both are part of an overall service that it seems so few offer.
So, here’s me telling you that you need to be telling your clients how worthwhile your efforts (and their budget) are clearly and effectively. If you happen to be my competition, then I hope you ignore this advice because it can only make your business stronger. If you’re a potential client, Welcome, I’m not going to hide anything from you.
Quite conversely, I’m going to tell you quite a lot that you didn’t know, and even some things that you didn’t know you didn’t know, know what I’m saying?
Social Networking.
April 4, 2008 on 12:35 pm
Filed Under:Web
I’ve got an e-buddy who came up with this beauty over Christmas, The Original Social Network. While born for hilarity, it is no less true, and got me thinking about the social aspects of our e-work and how important it is to get back to basics once in a while.
So, when someone on the local nerd forum here in Perth suggested that we have a meetup for coffee as opposed to the pub fun that we can never seem to make it to (because we, unlike some of the others, decided to procreate, the efforts of which keeping us quite busy), I was excited.
At first, I was excited just for the fact that I would finally get to meet some of these people in person. Then, I thought about the networking opportunities and got so excited that I forgot to bring more than 3 business cards. Even though I didn’t think a huge amount of folks would be there, I figured on more than 3. We did have more than I thought, and that was awesome. So many, in fact, that I didn’t get a chance to sit and talk to everybody before they had to dash out and please demanding clients.
For those that I did talk to though, were most impressive. In my brief tenure as a small business owner, I’ve spent substantial time networking online, I’m signed up for all the techie accounts, I post in several forums, I comment on just about every blog I can find… I’m networking all over the place.
And yet here, in what is sometimes very reminiscent of a small town of Perth, is where I’ve found my “network”. It’s no, Original Social Network, as it’s got its online component, but I’m meeting people. People that now know me, in person, and have just that little bit more idea of what I do and how I do it. That knowledge, combined with my winning smile (notice I don’t mention what it would win) is sure to get me some business through these folks.
And all I had to do was sit, have a coffee, and shoot the breeze with some pretty interesting folks. That’s what I call Social Networking.
Next is beer and barbecue, THEN we’ll start talking about “social”. I can’t wait.
Social Media and Web 2.0
March 10, 2008 on 5:40 pm
Filed Under:SEO, Web
Jason Burby, another favourite over at ClickZ, recently wrote about Social Media and Web 2.0 and I am forced to echo his sentiments once again.
In times passed, I may or may not have been guilty of pushing the Web 2.0 aspect of site promotion a bit too hard, encouraging blogs and forums where they may not have been the absolute best solution. Now though, I can sum up my overall theories and beliefs on the best things for a site in one phrase:
Have a good website.
I say this quite often, I’m aware, but that’s because it’s so important to me. Part of the reason that SEO/SEM firms get such a bad rap about being snake-oil salesmen and scam artists is because so many of them push something purely because it’s working.
Social Media, sadly enough, is yet another victim of this. SEOs see that Digg and Reddit can drive traffic to a site and, as they’ve undoubtedly promised it already, they’ve got to deliver on some increases in traffic or end up looking inept. So, they throw a few articles in there, plug a few pages, and use these clever tools in ways that they weren’t originally intended.
Unfortunately, many Social Media sites are headed that direction, where they’re being used for the wrong purposes, and I fear they’re going to get burned by it.
The Social component to a site needs to be just that, social, and as soon as SEOs start making it too commercial then we’ve only given ourselves a bad name.
Yet again.
These Are A Few Of My Favourite Blogs.
February 29, 2008 on 5:08 pm
Filed Under:SEO, Web
Raindrops on kittens and plucking some chickens… or something like that.
The time is long overdue that I actually shoot some props out to those that have, quite honestly, made me better at what I do. Search Engine Optimisation, not the singing of the songs part.
In no particular order, simply by how I found them:
Online Marketing Blog - Lee Odden’s a bit of a stud, and throws around a bit of weight in the SEO World. Weight that he got from clout and such, not cheeseburgers.
Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO - Think the name pretty much speaks for itself. I like it because occasionally he lets out Google secrets and paints his face like a cat.
SEOmoz Blog | Search Engine Marketing News & Tips - Rand Fishkin is somebody that I think I could have a serious drink with and talk all night about bidness and fun and how to mix the two.
He has help on the blog, of course, by too many talented folks for me to list. Heck, I’ve even contributed on the YouMoz part.
Graywolf’s SEO Blog - A quality blog from another respected name in the industry.
SEO Theory - SEO Theory and Analysis Blog - Michael Martinez gives me the in-depth and techie information with great insights.
Ramblings about SEO - I have to confess that I originally kept coming back to their site, and their blog, because their name is so damn cool. It’s like that great grunge band, but different. Eric Enge is a quality dude, and I’m always excited to see him either writing or posting elsewhere.
Internet Marketing News | Marketing Pilgrim - Ah, Marketing Pilgrim. So much to offer, so little time. Though I may usually scan through most of the articles and tend to focus on anything by my buddy, Andy Beal, I dig all their writers and will frequently click on something that interests me in my Google Alerts only to find out it’s from Marketing Pilgrim.
Plus, they gave me $500 in a contest and gave my kids a better Christmas. That’s the kind of thing that’ll make me love somebody for Life.
SEO Consulting that doesn’t suck - Stuntdubl - “Gettin’ hit by traffic…not cars.” - Affiliated with Marketing Ninjas, I do believe, and quite ninjatastic. To be blatantly honest though, doesn’t update enough. UPDATE MORE.
SEO by the SEA - Bill Slawski is a name that I kept seeing on various forums before I realised that it’s the same guy that writes here.
He gives more information than I can possibly comprehend on the techier side of Search Engines and their algorithms, crawling, and ranking systems.
Livin’ the dream — Tropical SEO - This guy is awesome because he call ‘em like he sees ‘em. Couldn’t have it any other way. Except the way where he UPDATES MORE.
Brian Chappell - Search / Social Marketer and Link Specialist - Has plenty of links to great tools and sites and such.
Web Analytics Blog | Occam’s Razor by Avinash Kaushik - I LOVE this guy. Avinash not only has a highly unique and entertaining insight into everything from basic web design to business advice, but also works at Google and sometimes tells secrets about it.
Okay, he actually doesn’t tell any secrets, but it’s still really cool that he works at Google.
Vox Fortis Communications - One of my absolute favourites as far as an all-around business-minded, SEO-centric, witty and real writer. Susan is awesome, and I only wish that this blog got more readers simply so that I could share her with more folks.
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog - This one’s kind of a gimme, but there’s useful stuff on there every couple of weeks and worth keeping an eye on.
———————-
Thanks to all those above. You’re not all of everybody I’d credit for my knowledge, because that’s mostly me, but you’ve had a part in it, so thanks for that.
That’s it for now. I’ve got a whole ‘nother folder in my bookmarks though, that I’ll be sending the linky goodness out to sometime in the near future, so keep an eye out.
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