Jeff Woelker : Chicago SEO, SEM, and Online Marketing Consultant

So I was doing some research today for a client project and I found this link below listed in Yahoo’s search index.

Any idea why they would continue to publish this result, even after identifying “Dangerous downloads”? I mean, don’t you want to provide the best customer experience possible to your users?

Does anyone have any insight into why they are doing this?

With the increasing emphasis on geo-aware applications and the rise in local search, it seems like local business optimization will be a hot market for 2008 and 2009. Here’s 9 quick tips that any local business can use to get a leg up on their neighbors.

1. Put your address on your website - It seems like an obvious thing, but many businesses either assume customers will know where they are (I mean, they have a huge sign out front) or that search engines will be able to read the image on their website that says “123 Main Street”. The fact is, search engines are not that smart…yet. So make it easy for them and put it in straight forward, obvious text. Users and search engines alike will appreciate it.
2. Microformats - If you want to get really sophisticated, you could put your address on your website using an hCard. An hCard indicates to search engines and other spiders as to the exact format of your address. Instead of “123 Main Street, Chicago, IL” you tell the search engine the exact syntax as to what is the street address, the city, the state and any other information you want to provide. You can create your own at the hCard creator.
3. Google and Yahoo business submissions - Even though you’ve now put your address on your website, with or without an hCard, you should also submit it to Google and Yahoo’s local business listings. Although they will most likely find your business eventually, they may list it incorrectly or not as optimally as you want. So be proactive and structure the listing as you’d like.
   
4. Yelp it up - Yelp is a fantastic local business listing website with a truly passionate following. One of my friends recent away messages said “Yelp is the best website ever”. I know there are certainly days I feel like that. Along with business listings, you can, again, reach out to the community and promote your business listing as well as your products and services. I recently posted on Yelp, “I need a sexy restaurant to go on Friday night.” Now what if you’re the owner or manager of a restaurant in Chicago. Don’t you want to jump in on that conversation and say “Hey, come on by tonight and we’ll give you a free appetizer or something?” You’d be hitting me along with anyone else who reads that conversation, right at the point of interest and most likely purchase.
5. Optimize your website for a few keywords - Although this is becoming more difficult as local markets get competitive for limited search terms, it’s still worth the effort and will benefit your local website listing. Here’s a great list of free keyword research tools.
6. Find local bloggers - It’s always good to get to know your neighbors and beyond a basic Google search, there are now geotargeted blog listings, where you can discover local bloggers and reach out to them to promote your business. There are some niche market blog listings like NYC Bloggers and Chicago Bloggers, but there is also a global listing called Globe of Blogs for a little more exploration.
   Update: And now Best of the Web has a local component.
7. Keep an eye on your competitors - There’s a great website called EveryBlock (previously ChicagoCrime.org), which details local happenings. A quick look lets you see who’s applying for liquor licenses or who passed their last restaurant inspection. It also shows a listing of local crimes, which is obviously beneficial to know prior to moving into an area.
8. Get involved - Beyond business listings, you should also allow people to interact with your business through other avenues, specifically social media. If you’re an art studio, set up a Flickr page with your latest exhibits. If you’re a restaurant, set up a Twitter account with your latest restaurant specials and make it timely so people have a sense of urgency. “For the next 30 minutes, appetizers are free with the purchase of an entree” or whatever. Or get people to sign up for a newsletter just to stay on top of what you’re doing. I subscribe to a local organic grocery store’s newsletter for many reasons, one of which is that I really like the owner as well as their emphasis on community involvement. Just make sure to follow the social graces of each online community before jumping in too deep.
9. Keep in touch - Once you establish these relationships, make sure to follow up and say Thanks! If a blogger features you on their website, say thanks and offer them something in return. If someone comments on your Flickr photo, let them know it’s appreciated. These relationships once established, don’t last very long if they are not nurtured or appreciated.

Anything I’m missing or glossed over, let me know if the comments. The photo above is of one of my favorite sushi places in Chicago.

Just a few links I found from around the ‘net this week:

• Social thing - organize all your social media websites into one lifestream. Signed up for private beta, looking forward to an account so I can explore this a little further.
• Google Trends for Websites - Now you can view Google Trends for websites. Really nice information, but I’m not sure competitors are going to appreciate this. I’ll have to see what I was doing last June - take that Sempo
  
• Google continues it’s uptick in search market share - Not surprising, but Yahoo also increased. I’m assuming this is due to their recent press associated with the Microsoft (non)deal. Microsoft dropped, which is again, not surprising.
• MySpace underwent a redesign - Not sure if it will stop the slide in global traffic, but once these things start in the world of online, users are usually quick to jump ship for “the new hot thing”.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love zombies. I randomly found this today while doing some research for social networking and thought it was delightful. Enjoy!

Check these lyrics out:

The story was floating around for the last month or so that this might happen, but many have wondered if it would. Well, the wait is over, it appears that Google and Yahoo are indeed partnering to offer Google ads within the Yahoo search platform. According to the conference call transcripts, Yahoo will still be running Panama and Google ads will appear beside their results.

Overall, part of me is excited in that I may only have to do two media placements in the future, Google and MSN, as Yahoo’s search advertising will essentially be defunct, although they act like it won’t be. Then there is the other part of me, which is somewhat disheartened. With Google now serving their ads on Google and Yahoo, it seems that CPC’s (costs-per-click’s) are going to increase as advertisers move from solely Yahoo based solutions to Google-centric solutions in addition to competition increasing for the top keywords as more advertisers move over.

The one nice thing about this is that it essentially changes nothing for end users. So search behavior should, technically, remain the same with Google, Yahoo and MSN continuing to stay the course with their market shares. Although, I have to think that some consumers will hear this news and think that Google and Yahoo are merging, and as a result, move over to Google, I think the majority will stay where they are.

Really, I see this as the first step to a Google acquisition of the entire search arm of Yahoo. Other than the seemingly corporate minded Justice department, what’s stopping them from purchasing the Panama platform and perhaps other assets?

Although I’m normally all for Google and the great products they create, this whole deal with Yahoo makes me cringe just a bit. What do you think? Am I overreacting or is this a sign of things to come?

I saw an interesting video from Lifehacker and TechCrunch today about a possible Mozilla/Firefox interface. Overall, it’s a really interesting concept. It’s hard to evaluate as the touchscreen phone market is in its infancy right now and everything these days starts with whomever is first to market. So if most users become familiar with an iPhone interface, they are going to expect that other browsers behave this way. That is until another platform can come along and do it faster, easier, cheaper, or just make the whole experience better for the user. Regardless, I think it’s definitely a viable option for mobile browsing and applaud Aza Raskin for his efforts so far. Full video is below.

Firefox Mobile Concept Video from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

So you’ve been working for months (or years) and now you’re #1 for that keyword you’ve been trying to rank highly for in Google (and any other search engines). Congratulations! You tell the client, you tell your friends, and everything is coming up roses. Then all of a sudden, the client says “Well, I guess we won’t be needing your services anymore.”

You: Uh…..I…..oh damn.

Here are five tips you can use to prove your worth to your client, beyond just gaining rankings:

1. Additional keyword optimization.
   This is pretty obvious, but just because you are #1 for “yellow widget” doesn’t necessarily mean you are #1 for “yellow widgets“. Make sure to continuously research additional keyword opportunities for your clients so you can have them on hand when they ask for them.
2. Competitive Analysis and Intelligence.
   Just because you are #1 today, doesn’t mean you will be tomorrow. Google is finicky about their search algorithm and likes to change things up every few years, just so everyone has as a fair shake (and so they can make a few extra dollars from their own services). Put yourself forth as providing competitive intelligence to both fend off and outmaneuver your clients competitors.
3. Optimizing additional media.
   Maybe you were just optimizing pages on your clients website. Maybe you were only doing press releases. Regardless, there’s always another opportunity out there to optimize something else your client didn’t think to put on their website. Maybe they have some corporate PDF’s laying around on their intranet, which their customers would love. Maybe they have some old corporate videos that are both informative and ridiculously campy. Put them on YouTube and see if you can get some viral traffic going.
4. Reputation Management.
   Your client may appreciate ranking well for “widgets in Chicago”, but they probably don’t appreciate the fact that they also rank well for “worst company in Chicago”. Let them know you can give them a hand with that as well using SEO as PR, SEM, social media optimization, and other techniques to present their side of the story.
5. Internal Education.
   Although, some SEO’s might feel like this is like giving away the keys to the kingdom, in most cases, your client doesn’t have the time, manpower, or technical knowledge to do this on their own, that’s why they hired you in the first place. So reaching out to them and offering to train their internal personnel on best practices for optimizing a press release or webpage isn’t going to take away your next paycheck. In most cases, it will actually provide you with additional opportunities, as those personnel go home and tell other co-workers, their friends, or their spouses about “the great stuff they learned today and how it can help their company.” That co-worker/friend/spouse turns around and tells their boss, and voila, you have additional leads coming in for more work.

In any case, as a good marketer, you should always have something else on the table beyond just gaining search engine rankings.

I discovered a site today called CrowdSpring, which is a fantastic community based design site based right here in Chicago. The concept behind Crowdspring is this:

1. I have a project I want designed (logo, website, t-shirt, etc.)
2. I post it to Crowdspring with some information about my project and a prize. Most of the prizes I saw were around a few hundred dollars.
3. Designers submit their designs and the community and myself (the buyer) choose the winner.

The designs that I saw were pretty amazing for $150. I really like the site and wish them well. I think they have enough of a first to market advantage to get some steam.

I’ve had numerous people ask me what occurs when a user from another country goes to Google.com, or if a user from the US goes to say, Google.de. Although still difficult to understand at first pass, it’s a great tutorial for how to treat international content, how to target international content appropriately, and how users view Google properties, inside and outside the US: