I found this post especially helpful as I am always monitoring my Client’s website traffic and I don’t ever like seeing lulls occur. So instead of fretting when I see a dip I can use this post as a check off list. There will be certain factors that we can take control of and improve to boost traffic and others that will just have to run their course before we can once again increase site traffic.

Image courtesy of:

I found this post especially helpful as I am always monitoring my Client’s website traffic and I don’t ever like seeing lulls occur. So instead of fretting when I see a dip I can use this post as a check off list. There will be certain factors that we can take control of and improve to boost traffic and others that will just have to run their course before we can once again increase site traffic.

Image courtesy of:

Coming in for a smooth landing

1.)    Your Company Logo clearly marked in the top left corner of your landing page.

Your company logo is your brand and it is what is going to clearly connect your landing page to your website.  You do not need or want the exact navigation that exists on all of your web pages, it offers too many distractions and takes up too much room, most likely forcing the more important information (the Form) below the fold.

2.)    The only content needed is a few credible and useful facts that must satisfy the users search inquiry.

Display this text concisely using bullet points.  The messaging should match the ad copy and try to use relevant keywords. Only add relevant images that will enhance the users intent to take action.  Do not use stock photos for design because it will likely distract the user from the intended action.

3.)    Make the point of your page loud and clear with clear and obvious calls to action.

To be golden be loud and clear

If you want the user to fill out the form or call a number don’t make it difficult for them. Add the phone number clearly in the top right of the page.   Add a visible contact form that is above the fold, and does not ask irrelevant questions like “how did you hear about us?”  Since, we can track all of our leads in analytics, we do not need to ask this question, so don’t ask it!

4.)    Add your credibility symbols above the fold.

This is very important, because the users need to immediately see a reason to trust your brand, if they do not see it right away, they will not scroll to the bottom of the page, but they will hit the back button to find it somewhere else.

Visible trust symbols are also very important for the ad copy.  For example many of our client’s are plastic surgeons, and we cannot say, “board certified” in the ads unless it is proven on the landing page.

5.)    Offer links to more information or to other pages on your website.
Link to the website at the top and the bottom of the landing page and from your logo.  Add “read more” links to your bullets points, which will allow the uses to find more information.   Remember you do not want to use too many links out because this will distract them from the purpose of the page, but not using any, the user will use the back button and navigate off the page, which is the last thing you want to have happen.

Everything else will distract you from your purpose.  Yes your pages should look good and be visually appealing, but they should be simple.  Make sure all content is fact and not marketing jargon, also provide links to read more.  Read more about this in Technique: How to build the best PPC landing page , 7 deadly sins of landing page design and 8 Dimensions Of Excellent Landing Pages.

Airplane image courtesy of Flickr user: Rennett Stowe

Bullhorn image courtesy of Flickr user: LuMaxArt

Local SEO consultant and Portland, OR web designer David Mihm has just published his second annual Local Search Ranking Factors Survey and for the second year running, Search Influence has been chosen to participate.

This is the definitive document on Local Search Ranking.

The study asked participants to rate 49 factors on their impact on Google and Yahoo Local’s universal search algorithms, calculating their positive or  negative impact on ranking as well as the level of agreement the participants had on each issue. The following are some of the highlights of the survey:

• Positive Impact -  According to the 27 participants, local business listing address in the city of search currently has the most positive impact on ranking, followed by citations from major data providers, and properly categorizing local business listings.
• Negative Impact - Top factors to avoid according to the study include using multiple local business listings with the same address, multiple local business listings (Google) with the same phone number, and including a PO box with no physical address.
• Increased Positive Impact since 2008 –  Within the past year, participants say LBL with marginal categories has increased its positive impact the most, followed by LBL with videos, and KLM file submission.
• Decreased Positive Impact since 2008 -  Top factors that have fallen in positive impact since last year include the number of inbound links, the age of the LBL, and using a PO box without a physical address.
• Most Controversy -  Study participants had the least agreement on the importance of using the same address for multiple LBLs, using the same name on multiple LBLs, and naming products and services in the inbound keyword text.

The study surveyed 27 participants in the local search market field and was designed to help small businesses prioritize their web marketing needs.

Click for full results of the Local Search Ranking Factors study.

She sent me an email with a list of questions which were based in large measure on a list at SEOConsultants.com. It was a great list, I’m a guy who likes being challenged and with Natalie’s permission I’m reposting the bulk of that email here:

It’s funny this is the first time I’ve been asked to answer so specific a set of questions but I’m happy to have the opportunity.

Perhaps we should make it the basis of an FAQ page

Please see my answers in line below.

Very best regards,

Will

Natalie wrote:

> Will,

>

> Great speaking with you on Tuesday. Below you will find a lot of questions. Due to our inexperience and knowledge on this subject we tried to compile a list of questions that could help us understand things a bit more. Thanks for your time and patience.

I’m going to say again, you’re pretty darn savvy and this list proves it.

> 1. Have you optimized other cleaning services? If so can you give us an example of feedback/response they have received?

We have not worked with a cleaning service. We work with many different businesses both consumer and business to business. These have included printers, sign brokers, medical professionals, soil testing companies and many more.

The tools we use are appropriate for any business and most particularly effective with locally oriented service businesses like yours.

There is a great quote on our web site in the testimonials section from our soil testing company.

This past Tuesday, Midwest Laboratories had the largest receiving day on record. We received 17,800 soil samples. The previous record was 13,200. That is the equivalent of 790 UPS Boxes – 3 UPS Trucks.

We are now averaging about 85-120 hits per day on the eStore. Thanks again for your help in this process.

Also, we recently published a press release on our success in internet marketing for plastic surgeons with a New Jersey plastic surgeon: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/10/prweb1410684.htm

> 2. Based upon your professional opinion when should we expect results?

It is a constant process, and we see continued improvement in sites we’ve worked with for years. In the worst case you should see something definitive within 6 months. If we are aggressive it should be markedly less, perhaps as little as 60 – 90 days.

> 3. Will you/company be undertaking the seo work yourselves or will you be outsourcing to another country?

We have both US and offshore staff. We do not outsource our core work and aside from 1 or 2 discreet tasks all work is done by our employees, some of whom are offshore.

> 4. What is the payment schedule?

We bill by credit card on the 1st of the month.

> 5. Who owns the rights to the work?

You do

> 6. Please define maintenance after site is up and running. What does maintenance include and why is the start-up and maintenance price the same? Do you have a maintenance program?

The bulk of our ongoing maintenance is link-building and content development. See fuller answer in #7.

> 7. Will you be providing any additional value added services with the setup? Example: blog, ezine, newsletters, PR, etc.

We often use all of the above. Currently for link-building we are very fond of Articles (distributed to ezine sites and press releases. When desired, some of the effort that would go toward off-site content creation can be used for on-site blogs. As an added service we can help with newsletters and email marketing.

For more about link-building in the local space please feel free to have a look at my presentation from SMX Local/Mobile.

http://www.searchinfluence.com/blog/2008/07/local-search-ranking-presentation/

> 8. Is there a limited number of keywords that will be used?

We usually select a basket of 20 search terms to focus on. These are terms which we agree together will drive valuable traffic. In our typical relationships we have a 1 year contract which has a 6-month checkpoint. If at the end of 6 months you’re not on page 1 of Google for 10 of those 20 selected terms we keep working for free until you are for up to another 6 months.

Typically we track many more than 20. The selection of 20 search terms is merely intended to be used as a yardstick by which our clients may hold us accountable.

> 9. What is Google PageRank™ and how does it affect our website(s)? How would you address improving our PageRank™ with Google, and other search engines that calculate the number of quality inbound links to our website?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank

PageRank, in a nutshell is Google’s indication of the relative authority of your site among its peers. All of the search engines do some level of weighted link analysis which helps to sort the sites competing for a given set of searches.

In other words, if you have two sites which say exactly the same things and one of them has 10 inbound links and the other has 100 links, the one with more links should clearly win.

That said, per the algorithm MORE links doesn’t always mean better. The authority of the links matters too. if the site with 10 links has links from Harvard, Emory, NASA, The Pentagon, your local newspaper and the like and the site with 100 links has nothing but free directory links, the 10 trump the 100.

To improve PageRank, it’s important to focus on trusted inbound links (of the type discussed in 6 & 7)

> 10. What is link popularity? What linking strategies would you use to increase link popularity for our website? Is this service part of the proposed price? What types of websites will you target for link exchange?

Link popularity is no longer as widely used given the advent of PageRank and similar systems from the other major engines. Many times Link Popularity was referenced when talking about reciprocal links (you’ll notice this question references “link exchange”) — I’m sure you get the emails offering these exchanges.

Per the PageRank algorithm, the number of links is no longer weighted nearly as strongly as the trust of the sites linking in.

In fact, in the last 2 years Google has specifically come out against link exchanges and there was even and issue a year or so ago where hundreds of realtors disappeared from the listings due to aggressive use of this technique.

> 11. What changes can we expect you to make to our website to improve our positioning in the search engines? Will these changes be visible? Will there be changes in the coding of our website?

We typically change a number of on-page elements including the title and description which are not readily apparent. We also will often make changes to the visible copy to enhance the use of search terms in copy and the use of page elements such as heading tags which are cues to the search engines of the importance of certain text.

We typically don’t change the code which structures your site unless it is inherently blocking search engine spiders.

> 12. What type of reporting will you provide to us? How often will you provide those reports? Will you provide consultation on how to interpret the reports so that we have a basic understanding of the statistics?

We typically offer both position reporting (e.g. you rank # 10 for phrase X) and traffic reporting using Google Analytics. We send monthly reports interpreting these data and are happy to walk you through the reports to explain items which may be unclear. We will also have separate call tracking #s for better visibility on the actual leads.

> 13. What is a PR0 penalty?

Sometimes, when site owners behave very badly their PageRank and ability to rank will be greatly diminished sometimes to zero. Recently Google has been clamping down on paid links. Some have suggested that a PageRank of zero is a warning to clean up one’s act. There are a lot of differing opinions on this point. In short, if a site has been online a year or more has a fair number of inbound links and a PR0 it’s not a good sign.

To really be able to tell what’s going on with your site we’d need to do some analysis and then submit a re-inclusion request to Google and see what happened.

> 14. How many pages will you be optimizing in our website?

All of them.

> 15. What techniques does Google consider spam?

The Google Webmaster Guidelines say it better than I can: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769#3

> 16. Can you assure us that the optimization strategies and methods that you are utilizing fall under the criteria of Best Practices for the SEO/SEM Industry? Can we assume that this means no penalties for our website? Penalties could include, but are not limited to; removal from the search engines or directories index, or a possible Google PageRank™ penalty.

We haven’t lost one yet. We don’t do anything risky. We don’t hide text and we don’t auto-generate 15,000 links overnight. We trade content in the form of articles, PR, blog posts and submission text for links.

As I’m sure you can see from the above, this is a GREAT way to start a relationship. If only all our clients were this rigorous in interviewing an SEO company we’d all be better off.