This is a police sketch composite of what the 3% of websites that were targeted agree that "Penguin" looks like.

On April 20th, we felt that change was in the air and published a post called “The Future of SEO and How To Prepare For It”. Our timing could not have been better, because on April 24th, Google announced an epic update to their search algorithm that is designed to do a better job of catching people and websites that spam its search engine. This update, called “Penguin” immediately sent shock waves through the online community. Let’s take a look at what “Penguin” did, and why people are so up in arms over it.

Let’s start with what Google had to say:

In the next few days, we’re launching an important algorithm change targeted at webspam. The change will decrease rankings for sites that we believe are violating Google’s quality guidelines. This algorithm represents another step in our efforts to reduce webspam and promote high quality content.

As usual, Google was pretty cryptic here. What type of “webspam” were they targeting? Which quality guidelines violations are they referring to? Here are a few things that violate Google’s quality guidelines:

• Cloaking
• Keyword Stuffing
• Duplicate Content
• Questionable Link Building Methods

Google has been working on fighting all of the above methods for some time now. So what makes “Penguin” so unique? There are two possibilities I am here to submit for your consideration.

1. They were targeting “over-optimization” of websites. Matt Cutts, head of Google’s search quality team, warned of this recently. Many feel that sites involved in the practice of “keyword stuffing” and over-optimization of Meta data were targeted with this update.
2. Strong penalties against websites with too many “spammy” links.

Let’s talk about my second point. What constitutes a “spammy” link? I’d define a spammy link as one that holds little authority or relevancy to the website it is pointing to. In the past, most SEO’s assumed that Google merely ignored obvious link spam. But I don’t believe that is the case any longer. I think Google has taken a new and rather unprecedented step.

I think Google is penalizing sites now for having lots of spammy backlinks. This opens up the door to an unfortunate niche in the SEO community: negative SEO. If Google is now penalizing sites for low-quality backlinks, what is stopping a competitor from pointing lots of these low-quality backlinks to a competitors website? That’s a great question. Frankly, I don’t like where this is going, and I do feel that there will be a lot of negative SEO going on in the coming months and years. But that is a topic for a whole other post, which I will write in the next few days.

Until then, what should you do in the aftermath of “Penguin”?

1. Find out if you were impacted. If you use a rank-tracking program for specific keywords, run it. If you don’t, use Google Analytics (I hope you have Google Analytics setup – if not get on it!) to check to see if traffic from Google is up, down, or relatively constant. If you’ve seen a significant drop in organic traffic from Google, you were probably hit.
2. Check Google Webmaster Tools. See if Google sent you a warning message regarding the quality of your backlinks. If they did, start cleaning up your “craplinks” right away. If you don’t have Webmaster Tools setup, check with your webmaster to see if they do on your behalf. If you don’t have a webmaster, hire one! There are many reasons to hire a webmaster. Having these types of tools at your fingerprints is one of them.
3. Submit a reconsideration request. But only do this after you have cleaned up your “craplinks” and checked Webmaster Tools to see what other suggestions Google has made.

In all, 3% of websites were hit by “Penguin”, but they were hit hard. If your site was one of them, follow the suggestions we made above. Next, stop and think about what you are trying to accomplish with your Web presence. How can you adapt to the changing search environment? For starters, it helps to have a quality SEO firm on retainer. While there are many, we’re one of them. If you think we might be able to help, feel free to contact us to set up a free consultation with us today. We’d love to talk more in-depth about the changes taking place to Google’s algorithm, and what you can do to safeguard your website against further changes to search quality.

Google Lauches Sweeping “Penguin” Update to its Search Engine is a post from: 417 Marketing

Copyright 417 Marketing, a Web Design Springfield MO firm. All rights reserved.

For local businesses, setting up, maintaining, and optimizing your Google Places account is important for many reasons. One is that Google now displays “merged” listings for local searches, showing both the website and Google Places account for a business in one merged listing. See the example below.

For the businesses in this merged area, there are definite benefits. In addition to the searcher finding their Web URL, they can also see reviews, contact information, and mapped location. This makes such a listing far more attractive to the searcher, leaving the business with higher click-through rates and increased traffic from targeted Google searches.

With that explained, how does a business get into this coveted merged search listing area? For starters, understand that getting into this merged area will largely hinge on how well your website is optimized for search engines like Google, in addition to many local search engine optimization factors, such as the strength of your Google Places account. For more information on the process of SEO, visit our SEO services page, browse the SEO category on our blog, our just contact us for an explanation of how we can deliver world-class SEO services to you and your business.

For the sake of this article, let’s focus on how we can make our Google Places accounts stronger.

Step One – Know Your Keyword Strategy

To begin, you’ll need to know what your keyword strategy is. What keywords to you hope to rank highly for and generate this merged listing on the top of the first page for? Just make sure you don’t guess on this. Determining your keyword strategy is the most important step of this process. You’ll want to base your decision on a combination of relevancy and search volumes. If you don’t know which keywords generate the highest search volumes of Google searches in your market,make sure you try the Google Adwords Keyword Tool. Before beginning your research, set “match types” set to exact.

Now that you have the tool setup, start exploring! Do you own a coffee shop in Springfield, Missouri and want to know how many people are looking for a coffee shop in your town? Try plugging in the keyword “coffee springfield mo” and the tool will show you monthly search volumes, in addition to making suggestions for other keywords. Use the tool to generate a list of relevant keywords that provide a reasonable volume of traffic.

Step Two – Owner Verify Your Google Places Account

If you have already done so, move on to step 3. If you have not done so, read this article and follow the steps carefully.

Step Three – Fill Out the Form

The key here is to fill the form out as completely as possible. For the description, try to get your primary keyword in there a couple of times. Also, make an effort to use the 200 characters they give you and make the copy compelling. For categories, don’t go overboard. Just because you can select multiple categories doesn’t mean you should do so. If you are a coffee shop, say so. No need to list that you sell latte’s, espresso, etc. Everybody knows you sell those things if you are a coffee shop.

Step Four – Go the Extra Mile

Step four is where your listing is going to stand out from your competition. Here is a list of things you can do to go the extra mile:

1. Add 5 videos to your listing. Google gives you the opportunity to add 5 videos to your listing, an opportunity most (if not all) of your competitors will pass on. Take full advantage of this by creating 5 videos with a simple tool such as Animoto, uploading them to your YouTube channel, and then pasting the links into your Google Places account. It will make your listing more complete, and Google will appreciate that you’ve gone the extra mile with video.
2. Add 10 photos to your listing. Same concept here. Google gives you the opportunity to add 10 photos to your listing, and most of your competitors will not take advantage of this. Take your time and Geo-tag your photos for increased local search engine optimization of your account.
3. Use the “Additional Details” section of your account to drive traffic to your social profiles. Google Places gives your two columns per additional detail, with the example given of “Parking Available” in the left column and “Yes” in the right. Why not do something like “Find us on Facebook” in the left column and “Insert Facebook URL here” in the right? The possibilities here are endless.
4. Solicit reviews. Ask your customers to review your business on Google Places. Having an assortment of reviews will provide you feedback on how you are doing and make it easier for new customers to try you as well (provided your reviews are positive and you are actually doing a good job). Sometimes it can be hard to want to try a new business when there isn’t anybody talking about it or reassuring us that your new product or service is worth trying.

For more information on how you can use your website and/or Google Places account to grow your business, be sure to contact us today for a free consultation.

How To Optimize Your Google Places Listing is a post from: 417 Marketing

Copyright 417 Marketing, a Web Design Springfield MO firm. All rights reserved.

If there is one industry that is constantly changing, it is SEO. Let’s begin our discussion on the future of SEO by examining the present.

SEO in the Present

For the sake of any beginners out there, let’s begin by defining SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. In the past (and in some cases, the present), SEO is the process of sending signals to search engines for the purpose of improving search engine rankings for specific keywords that provide both traffic and are relevant to the business. One can categorize SEO in two ways: on-page and off-page. On-page SEO can mean many things, but for the sake of simplicity let us say that it is the process of optimizing Web content in such a way that makes it easier for search engines to understand what a business does, thereby making it easier for the search engines to rank us for desirable keywords. Off-page SEO also can mean many things, however the simplest explanation may be that it is the process of sending off-site indicators to Google that a website is worthy of being ranked for specific keywords.

Now let us discuss what SEO can do for a business. For many, the fruit of an SEO campaign is higher rankings in search engines (such as Google) for targeted keywords. As a result of these higher rankings (and under favorable conditions), companies can expect increased Web traffic and an abundance of high-quality Internet sales leads. But this isn’t just any kind of new Web traffic. It is targeted. These increases in traffic are caused by people that need what you provide, and demand such services in real-time. So not only can one expect to see increased levels of Web traffic, one can expect that this new traffic will be highly valuable as well. This makes SEO (arguably) the single most effective means of advertizing available today. Good marketing is measurable marketing, and SEO offers plenty of measurement opportunities. Those that have been the benefactors of a successful SEO campaign know this.

In summary, SEO campaigns work because they deliver the people that need a service to a business that offers that service in a real-time environment. SEO has worked amazingly well for years, and it will continue to do so for at least the near-term future.

But SEO is changing. Consider yourself warned, and read on.

The Future of SEO

As many of us are aware, Google dominates the search engine game. Many SEO’s believe Google is developing an increasingly aggressive stance against SEO companies that are in the business of helping clients increase search engine rankings for specific keywords. The question is why? Try to look at this from Google’s perspective. They (more than anybody) are fully aware that organic SEO (the process of ranking a website for specific keywords without using paid advertisement) is far more effective than the paid search ads that they offer. As you can imagine, this is not an ideal situation for them. From a profit maximization approach, it would be ideal for Google to minimize the impact of SEO’s, thereby forcing companies that wish to advertise on the Internet to purchase the pay-per-click campaigns that they sell. If you find yourself denying that this is possible, we have some swampland to sell you in Florida. Google is a corporation. Corporations exist to maximize profit. Change is coming folks.

What kind of change, you ask? There are several things Google could do. Given that we are only speculating, what if Google:

1) Decided to randomize local search results?
2) Removed all organic listings from local search queries, leaving only ads?
3) Began penalizing websites for infractions in an overly-aggressive manner, thus leaving websites open to competitor manipulation?

Let’s take the first possibility. What would happen if Google decided to randomize local search results? This is pure speculation. Obviously, any hard work spent to rank a website for a particular keyword would be lost. The website that spent no energy optimizing content would have an equal chance to rank at the top of the first page and pull the majority of the traffic.

What would happen if Google removed all organic (non-paid) listings from local search queries? This would leave only paid ads. For companies that know the importance of a strong Internet marketing presence, this would mean they would be forced into buying pay-per-click ads.

What if Google began penalizing websites in an overly aggressive manner, leaving websites open to competitor manipulation?  Google has started de-indexing sites with poor link profiles (that is, the links pointing to their website are of poor quality). So let me ask you this – what is stopping a competitor from intentionally creating a poor collection of links at your website?

Would you like further evidence that Google is working towards cutting their competition (SEO firms) out? How about their decision to not provide keyword data to websites that aren’t using their AdWords pay-per-click services?

What You Can Do About It

So what does this mean? What can be done? For starters, if you rely on SEO to make a living (or at least partially so), it is time to make some changes if you haven’t already. Diversification is advised.

How can we diversify and not get caught with our pants down? Begin by looking at the bigger picture. If the goal is to use the Internet to market your business, you must understand that while SEO is an incredibly effective way to achieve this goal, it is not the only way.

One way to protect yourself (and your business) against sweeping changes to SEO is to broaden the strategy. Traffic from Google search engine brought on by a high ranking from Google is (of course) not the only way to use the Internet to market your business. In addition to an organic SEO campaign, here are the following ways you can increase Web traffic, generate online leads, and then close them.

1) On-page SEO
2) Blogging
3) Social Media
4) Content Marketing
5) E-books
6) Email Marketing
7) Targeted website landing pages

All of the above are ways you can collect online leads. Once generated, managing these leads and follow-up is critically important. These aren’t just any leads – these are people that made the decision to interact with you. These aren’t people that you bothered with your unwanted marketing message. They chose you. So you must nurture these leads. Dedicated lead management software exists to achieve these goals.

The bottom line is this: an organic SEO campaign (if properly deployed) is an incredibly effective way to grow a business. It increases exposure, generates quality leads in real-time, and increases Web traffic. Most importantly, it generates leads that are relatively easy to close. With that said, it is important to know that changes are coming. Changes always come in SEO. Are you prepared? If not, it is time to start looking at other ways you can use the Internet to market and grow your business.

Let us know if you are interested in preparing for the future, and let’s work on growing together.

The Future of SEO and How To Prepare For It is a post from: 417 Marketing

Copyright 417 Marketing, a Web Design Springfield MO firm. All rights reserved.

How To Find the Right Web Design Company is a post from: 417 Marketing

Copyright 417 Marketing, a Web Design Springfield MO firm. All rights reserved.

What does your business do better than anyone else in your market? I hope you can answer that question. If you don’t, you’ll be forced to differentiate on price (and you will need to get comfortable with the idea of slashing your profit margins – not fun).

Businesses that fail to differentiate are doomed to compete on price. Do 1 or 2 things better than anyone else, or you will struggle to be profitable.

One more thing: you won’t be able to do 1 or 2 things better than anyone else if you try to be all things to all people. Don’t do that. Stay focused.

Don’t Differentiate On Price is a post from: 417 Marketing

Copyright 417 Marketing, a Web Design Springfield MO firm. All rights reserved.

I just read a thought-provoking article at the New York Times. It begins by noting the recent eulogies given to Google + by such sources as Slate and Forbes. To be entirely transparent, if you would have asked me before reading this article, I’d agree. I simply haven’t (yet) seen what differentiates Google + from Facebook, and I didn’t see people moving their entire social network to a new platform.

And maybe that is true. But, as the NY Times article points out, that won’t necessarily matter. As the article points out, Google doesn’t view + as separate product. To them, it is the product, and the product is search. The NY Times article refers to + as

“a social layer that has always been intended to sit on top of the company’s flagship product: search”

Well said. With the debut of Google + pages for businesses, the day will come when not having a presence on Google + will hurt a businesses effort to rank highly in a particular local search market. It won’t be long before companies like 417 Marketing will be asking business owners if they have a page on Google +. Not because we are new+shiny product pushers or because it’s the cute thing to do, but because having this presence will be required to be on the top-third of the first page.

Who cares if this is a good thing or not? Maybe it is…maybe it isn’t. The point is that Google is in the drivers’ seat, and if they decide to place weight on whether or not you have a Google + page or not, we’ll all be rushing to comply. Maybe we should save ourselves the trouble and just get one set up now.

So that’s what I’m advising you to do. Soon, I’ll act on my own advice.

Thanks for reading, and let me know if you have any questions.

How SEO Will Keep Google + Alive is a post from: 417 Marketing

Copyright 417 Marketing, a Web Design Springfield MO firm. All rights reserved.

I think it’s important to adjust our expectations every now and then.

Take a company website, for example. What do you expect out of having a website built? Here are common expectations I come across:

I just want something simple.

Question: why would you ever tell a Web design company that? All this says is that you don’t care about your Web presence. Think of it this way: when you were a child, did you ever think to yourself that you want to grow up to do everything at a mediocre level? No? I didn’t either. That’s why you don’t want to ask for a simple website. When you do this, you attract mediocrity. Websites aren’t simple. Not if they are done correctly. They can look simple (actually, simple is good when it comes to design), but for it to work as a cash register, simple just won’t cut it.

I want something really great, but I don’t want to pay for it.

Good look with that!

I want something really great, and I am willing to pay for it.

Good for you. My advice? Be really, really picky about who you write the check to. Talk to multiple companies. Listen intently to each. Look for key differences. And don’t do business with companies that spend half their time with you badmouthing competitors. Look, I’m not immune to telling people the truth. If you ask me about one of my competitors and they are terrible at what they do, I’ll let you know. If you ask me about a competitor and they are awesome at what they do, I’ll tell you that too. I’m just advising you avoid doing business with the types of companies that are more interested in pointing out what is wrong with a company than what they can do for you. It should be obvious.

Here’s the bottom line: No Web/SEO company is capable of miracles. But the right Web design and/or SEO firm for your business can come pretty close. Choose wisely. And adjust your expectations. If you are wise in your decision, you’ll be amazed at what a strong online marketing strategy built into a website and SEO campaign can do to grow your business.

*** Let me add this ***

Pick a Web design company to build your website. This should also be obvious. Be wary of companies that are all things to all people – they are typically companies that do everything decently. Pick a company that does a couple things but does those things extremely well. Think about it. Do you go to IHOP for the great coffee? No, you go there for pancakes. If you want great coffee, try Hebrews or The Coffee Ethic. They don’t just “do coffee.” They dominate those beans.

*** End edit ***

Go Cardinals!

Adjust Your Expectations is a post from: 417 Marketing

Copyright 417 Marketing, a Web Design Springfield MO firm. All rights reserved.

I’ll be teaching a course offered by the Urban District Alliance Tuesday, May 17th at 6pm at OTC. The course is titled “Web Strategies for Small Business.” Best of all, the course is free. Some come on down and learn something!

Click here to read the press release.

Come Learn Something For Free is a post from: 417 Marketing

Copyright 417 Marketing, a Web Design Springfield MO firm. All rights reserved.

Some call it “giving back.” I prefer “doing good.”

417 Marketing has exceeded my expectations as a business. It has given me so much. Liberty. Confidence. A part of my purpose. A way to provide for my growing family. It has been a huge blessing. When I reflect on these blessings, I feel motivated to use the business as a platform for doing good.

***

Sometimes you have to listen to your customers. When 417 Marketing began, our purpose was to give small businesses the opportunity to hire a team to serve a mini-marketing department. It wasn’t a terrible idea. But it had its faults. So we adjusted. Today, we keep things simple. Hosting. Web Design. SEO. That’s what we do. It wasn’t a hard decision to move in the direction we did, and we haven’t looked back. If we hadn’t listened to our customers we may not be here. But we are still here, and we are stronger than ever. It turns out listening to your customers actually works. Imagine that.

***

Sometimes you have to listen to what is inside. When my wife and I took a tour of Harmony House in the absolute worst part of snow-mageddon 2010-2011 (there was a foot of snow on the ground), it hit us hard. We still talk about that visit – frequently. The stories of abused and battered women that find a new start there. The kids that are pulled from their beds in the middle of the night to go there. The small rooms. The humble quarters.

Women frequently find themselves trapped. Trapped in abusive relationships with (what seems like) no hope. Without places like Harmony House, where would some of these women go? Too often, they are forced with a choice of:

1. Continue to be physically and/or verbally abused
2. Become homeless

That’s not acceptable.

***

I’m in a BNI group here in Springfield, and they’ve been asking me to give a seminar over the past couple of months. Not demanding it or anything, but asking. Honestly, I was having a hard time getting inspired about the idea, mostly because we’ve been really busy and I’m about to welcome my first child into the world. Frankly, other things have been pressing.

But when I realized I could satisfy their request for another seminar AND turn it into a fund-raising event for Harmony House? Let’s just say when I get inspired I move quickly.

***

Here’s where we are know:

This is an opportunity to raise $2000-$3000 (maybe more) for the Harmony House. This money will help them better fit the needs of the people they serve: abused women. I’m selling tickets (limited to 50 due to space restrictions) to this seminar, and all proceeds are going to them (roughly 75-85% of all revenues will go directly to them as expenses for the event are low). 417 Marketing will not take one dime. Nor will I. Once the food is paid for and eventbrite.com take their small percentage, the rest is for Harmony House.

Added bonus: I will teach you to market yourself or your business using the Internet. I know that sounds vague, but I’m trying to keep the idea simple here. Want a more complex explanation? Here is what I’ll be addressing:

1. Why most people view their website the wrong way (and how to change your mindset)
2. Social media, unreasonable expectations, and the failed strategies behind the predictable disappointment
3. Using search engines to build brand exposure and increase sales

That’s the event in a nutshell. But I reserve the right to change the outline. Here’s what I can promise though: you will learn something. If you don’t, tell me and I’ll give you your money back and donate your ticket price to Harmony House myself.

Will you join me in this effort?

Click here for more information or to register for the event.

If listening to what’s inside works half as well as listening to our customers, this event will be a success. But it can’t be done without you.

Doing Good is a post from: 417 Marketing

Copyright 417 Marketing, a Web Design Springfield MO firm. All rights reserved.

Comic from theoatmeal.com

I have a theory. If you are in business, your email address can say a lot about you. That may not be something you’ve thought about before, but I think there is something to this idea, and I personally think there is a big difference in perception between yourcompanyname@aol.com and info@yourcompanyname.com.

To test this idea, I decided to ask people on Facebook what they thought, and I tried to make sure I didn’t ask a leading question. I got some great answers, and I hope that the answers I got will provide some insight.

Here is what I asked:

“When you see a business email address that doesn’t end in (nameofbusiness.com or .net, or .whatever), what goes through your mind?”

I was pretty pleased to receive several answers. If you do business without a professional email address, listen up.

Todd (small business owner and technical professional)

“If you want to look professional while conversing with someone through email, the first step is to get a legitimate and respectable email address. If [somebody] email[s] you from businessname@gmail.com, that shows that [they] perhaps do not own businessname.com.

Tyler (works in marketing department of a Fortune 100 company)

“looks amateur and less reliable”

Layla (advertising sales professional with over 10 years experience in the industry)

“It ranks right up there with a company not having a website. Not a fan.”

Kristin (entrepreneur and business owner)

“I would assume its a personal email. I would view it as less legitimate, although I realize I shouldn’t.”

Kristin #2 (I had 2 different Kristin’s reply)

“If it doesn’t end in @company I usually assume it’s someone not big enough to have a storefront and they work from home.”

Tom (CEO of a company in Florida)

“Knowing how easy and cheap it is to set up a domain name AND being in the technical industry, I would not consider them as a viable vendor.”

Russell (business consultant for a Fortune 500 company)

“When I see @hotmail or @yahoo, or @somethingelseold, I perceive the business as being behind the times.”

Glenn (serial entrepreneur and overall bright guy)

“Illegitimate and possibly a scam.”

I think these responses speak for themselves. If you own a business and don’t have a professional email address (an email address ending in yourcompanyname.com), I think you might be surprised at the impression this leaves potential buyers.

With services such as Google Apps (free for organizations of 10 employees or less and reasonable for bigger companies) and domain registration services starting at around $10/year, who can blame the people above for how they feel about this? Ask yourself this question: what is holding you back from taking this step? It sure isn’t money.

What Your Email Address Says About Your Business is a post from: 417 Marketing

Copyright 417 Marketing, a Web Design Springfield MO firm. All rights reserved.