Archive for May, 2009
Targeting one keyword per page–controversial?
by Mike Moran
Image by horizontal.integration via Flickr
Last week in this space, I urged organic search marketers to focus on optimizing for one keyword per page, rather than taking a scatter shot approach where they are trying to shoehorn many keywords into the same landing page. I knew that it wasn’t the normal advice that people hear, but I wasn’t prepared for how many comments and questions I got, so I thought it was worth revisiting the topic this week. If you’re still unpersuaded about the approach of targeting one keyword per page, I want to take another shot at it.
I got lots of questions about this stark advice, most along the lines of, “Yeah, but can’t I target several keywords effectively with the same page?” The short answer is that you can, but I can’t guarantee how successful you’ll be.
Let’s take an example. Suppose you own a shoe store in Sheboygan, where you feature expensive women’s fashion shoes. You could decide that you want your home page to come up when your customers search for “women’s fashion shoes in Sheboygan” and I bet you’d have a good chance of your site coming up high in the rankings. And maybe you’d also get high rankings for “shoe store In Sheboygan.” And maybe “women’s shoes in Sheboygan.”
It could happen. And it’s just fine. But most people that I talk to think that they can also get rankings on that page for “women’s shoes”–you won’t. Or even “women’s fashion shoes”–fat chance. Or worse, they think that you can stuff in “women’s sandals” and “high heels” and you think you’ll be able to squeeze all those terms onto the page and just keep optimizing the hell out of the page and it will all come up roses.
I think it’s the wrong approach. I am not saying that you won’t have pages that will rank well for multiple keywords. You will. But you are better off shooting for one keyword for page and getting lucky than thinking you can target five different keywords on a page–you’ll probably end up with a page about nothing.
Now understand, I am not telling you that you have to avoid using other keywords on the page. You don’t. Write naturally. Write to persuade people. Make sure that you use the keyword you are looking to optimize but don’t avoid other words that naturally crop up. But, I advise, make one keyword the primary focus of the page.
Lots of smart people disagree with me. Jill Whalen, a copywriting expert, offered a comment disagreeing vehemently. And it’s fine with me that she can target 3-5 keywords per page and it works. I’m not giving her advice–she doesn’t need it.
I’m giving advice to the average person out there. I run across far more people who try to target many keywords on a page and fail than people who target one keyword and fail. It’s that simple. Professionals like Jill understand which kinds of keywords are related to each other and can be combined on the same page. Most people don’t and get themselves into more trouble by doing so.
Feel free to try it the other way. I won’t be upset. But when people ask me for advice, I find that they end up doing the right thing more often when they try for one keyword on a page rather than three or five. And they are pleasantly surprised when the page ranks for multiple keywords rather than upset when it ranks for none.
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Nice to meet you Chandler Bing ‘BING!’, Great apartment Chandler Bing ‘BING!’
It seems like every time we talk he wants to say my name, so that when he gets to my last name he can exaggerate the bing. BING!” – Chandler Bing on Friends
It’s not like Microsoft didn’t know what was coming. Choosing a name like Bing for their new search engine was bound to attract all sorts of reaction. It’s a source of curiosity and quickly became fodder for jokes and references.
The first thing that came to my mind is Chandler Bing, arguably one of the most charming yet sarcastic characters in US sitcom history. Played by Matthew Perry, Chandler Bing was one of the six Friends on the hit TV show that helped define Thursday nights as a “Must See TV” night. On the show, both his first and last names were the sources of many a tease, but he took it all in stride, something Microsoft appears to be doing as well.
Another famous Bing is a crooner and classic movie star who went by the last name Crosby. Most famous for his hit musical White Christmas, Crosby’s smooth vocals grace our ears every December. Crosby was a true triple threat. He could sing, dance, and act with the best of them. Microsoft is taking the multi-faceted approach as well, by tackling various niches from travel to shopping to health.
Then there are the plays on the word Bing as well as colloquialisms and acronyms. Ba da bing ba da boom is a phrase that, according to Urban Dictionary, means something that is done quickly and easily. “Bing It On” is a take on the phrase “Bring It On,” while many speculated that Bing stood for “Boy, It’s Not Google.”
When I asked Whitney Burk of the Bing Team why the name was chosen, she said the word “sounded like the moment of discovery.” But Bing is more than a sound. Burk said the word is simple, easy to remember and globally appropriate.
Oh yeah, and Burk said that Bing does NOT stand for “Boy It’s Not Google.” It’s not an acronym.
The ultimate question when it comes to branding and naming is, “Does it pass the verb test?” Xerox, FedEx, Google and Twitter have all seen their names turned into verbs. “Can you Xerox this for me?” and “I need to FedEx the gift in time for Christmas” are phrases you’ve probably heard before.
Will we now hear people say things like “I Binged chocolate chip cookies and found a great recipe” or “I’m going to Bing his name and see what comes up?”
I’m not so sure. It’s not that a brand has to have a name that turns into a verb. You don’t put on your running shoes and say, “I’m going Nike-ing.” But when it comes to search, people have come to expect it. You hear it when people talk about using Google, even in the movies or on TV.
What happens with the Bing brand remains to be seen. The search engine launches to the public next week and after that, much of it is out of Microsoft’s hands. Then, the people will decide if Bing is set to join Chandler, Crosby and the colloquialisms as one of the most famous Bings in history.
Microsoft Teams Up with Tech Partners for Social Networking Enterprise Solution
Microsoft has teamed up with Telligent and speakTECH to form the Social Enterprise Alliance. Via the Alliance comes an enterprise social networking solution for manufacturing and consumer goods sectors companies.
The Social Enterprise Solution is designed to be a robust solution, integrated with a company’s site instead of than simply copying and pasting code from Google’s Friend Connect or Facebook Connect (which leaves a site co-branded with Google or Facebook).
“The Social Enterprise Alliance with Telligent and speakTECH demonstrates Microsoft’s commitment to recognizing partners that collaborate to offer a higher level of solutions and services offerings that are more relevant to customer needs,” said Greg Urquhart, general manager, U.S. ISV and National System Integrators, U.S. Partners Group at Microsoft. “By integrating Telligent’s Community Server platform with speakTECH’s integration and services expertise — all of which leverage the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server platform — companies have a better solution to connect with their customers, partners, suppliers and investors.”
Ultimately, the Social Enterprise Solution is designed to define and develop communities based around a company.
“Manufacturing and consumer goods companies have a unique opportunity to put the power of social computing to work across all aspects of their business, improving engagement and collaboration of employees, partners, distributors and customers,” said Rob Howard, founder and CTO of Telligent. “Holistic social computing solutions enable the agile and innovative enterprise.”
As social media continues to grow at a rapid-fire pace, a deep integration of social networking technologies is becoming a necessity for many brands.
“Companies are finding the return on investment for social media campaigns to be aggressively outpacing traditional marketing strategies,” said Aaron Sloman, CEO of speakTECH. “It’s driving a transformation where traditional marketing departments need to re-tool as interactive marketing agencies.”
Omniture Launches Facebook Analytics Solution
Omniture has created a new tool designed to measure the success of Facebook applications. Dubbed App Measurement for Facebook, it utilizes the reporting capabilities of the company’s online analytics solution SiteCatalyst.
With App Measurement for Facebook, marketers can view users by how many members they have, see which parts of the app are most popular, monitor video sharing, and observe which users invited their friends to the app.
Check out more screenshots of the tool at Omniture’s Flickr stream.
Facebook apps are an increasingly popular way for companies to leverage social media in their online marketing campaigns.
“With more than 200 million active users, marketers are intrigued by the potential of Facebook to help them connect with consumers in personalized and meaningful ways,” said Brett Error, CTO and executive vice president, products at Omniture.
But unlike SEO and SEM, social media has been notoriously difficult to measure. App Measurement for Facebook attempts to fill this void.
“The relatively young phenomenon of social media has forced marketers to rely on experimentation to tap into that potential,” said Error. “The App Measurement for Facebook solution will deliver actionable insight concerning Facebook applications and help marketers develop data-driven social media marketing strategies that support and positively affect efforts across other online channels.”
The tool is now available for SiteCatalyst customers and is part of the Omniture Online Marketing Suite.
Google Book Settlement Raises Eyebrows in Europe
Google’s book settlement in the US is not sitting well with some in Europe. As a result, the EU is commissioning a study on the affects of the settlement on European authors. The deal that Google made with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) includes European authors who have been published in the States. However, they are allowed to opt-out of the deal if they so choose.
The EU, of course, isn’t the only one scrutinizing the agreement. Last month, the Department of Justice here in the States launched an antitrust investigation into the settlement, despite the deal’s nonexclusive clauses.
Additionally, the settlement must be approved by a court. The hearing is scheduled for October 7, 2009.
The settlement came after two years of disputes and negotiations between Google and the AAP. It involves Google shelling out 5 million to establish the Book Rights Registry, which would kill the existing class action lawsuit against Google for its book search.
Lyrics, Free Downloads are Among McAfee’s Most Dangerous Searches
Security technology company McAfee has identified the world’s most dangerous search terms. They searched 2,600 keywords culled from several of the top keyword lists from sources such as search engines and Hitwise. They then ranked them based on risky downloads, browser exploits, email practices, phishing, excessive popups, and linking practices.
The risk for your average search results is low, at just 1.7%. That means if your search returns 250 results, about 4 of them are risky.
But there are certain categories and terms that are more risky than others. Searching for something with the word “free” attached turns out to be a risky venture indeed. Want lyrics to a song? 1 in 4 of the results for an average lyrics search are risky.
Here are the most risky categories as determined by McAfee:
In the United States, these are the most risky keywords:
Globally, one of the most risky searches that can be conducted is for “free work at home” schemes. With the current economic crisis, these search terms may be quite tempting, but they’re probably not worth the risk.
McAfee also analyzed risk based on keyword variations. Here is a list of risky root words when looking at variations:
What do you think of this data from McAfee? Leave a comment below to let us know.
Dossett Departs Yahoo! After Just Six Months
Jeff Dossett joined Yahoo! last fall but recently gave his resignation. The reason for the departure is personal, according to BoomTown.
Dossett’s responsibilities have been assumed by Vertical Audience Experiences head Jimmy Pitaro and Search & Social Applications Tim Mayer.
Dossett originally replaced Scott Moore and Al Warms. Previously, Dossett worked at Microsoft.