Blue Hue SEO

How do I handle duplicate site content?

2010-01-14T10:03:00.003-06:00

I finished helping a client with a duplicate content issue. Canonical issues are not that tricky but can affect your search results. Google recommends some simple solutions to setting the priority of pages and helping search engines understand your site.

The user interface/usability side of this is to have clear navigation, offer a site map and keep content unique so that you can drive users to a specific point for truth.

Make sure you:
Set your preferred site url as your homepage (within your hosting setup and in Google if necessary)
Add a 301 redirect if needed
Be careful not to create duplicate content - keep your site clean.

Thanks
Blue Hue

Naming your blog for SEO

2010-01-07T12:37:00.003-06:00

I have had a few clients in the past months set up new blogs. One of them struggled to find a blog name that fit their products and search strategy because "all the good names were taken".

Make sure that you register that blog name that you have been thinking about.
If you are using data feeds to synch your site and your blog - choose your blog platform carefully.
Make sure that you have a search plan in place so that your blog name matches your search priority.
And then make sure to blog using best practices. (don't under estimate linking strength from your blog.)

Good luck and happy posting.
www.bluehueseo.com

Personalized search in Google

2009-12-08T13:00:00.001-06:00

As you may have read, Google has updated their search behavior. Since 07 and before Google indicated it was using web history/search history.
Now that goes further.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/personalized-search-for-everyone.html
We will see examples of individuals searching for the same competitive term and both users receiving different results based on their past web traffic.

It will be very important to have multiple reasons for users to return to a site: news, trends, reviews, etc.
I am seeing recommendations from others to include search engine result pages in blogs and content. Traffic and return visits to a site will be very important.
Please also continue to stress the importance of brand landing pages with very rich/specific value content. The battle to get to the top of page 1 should be tougher…

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/relevance-meets-real-time-web.html

Free SEO critique - just ask

2009-10-22T10:01:00.009-05:00

Blue Hue Interactive offers search engine optimization services. We also provide a free SEO scorecard for an initial look at your site. This quick analysis of current meta data, linking and code standards will help you understand areas of improvement that should be made.

Schedule your scorecard today using the form at www.bluehueseo.com or emailing your request to Craig

Thanks

Free Internet Marketing Clinic - Minneapolis Oct 1st - THANKS!

2009-10-07T16:47:00.001-05:00

Thanks again to everyone who attended our clinic on the 1st. We hope that the information was helpful.

• SEO Consultation
• Web Design Consultation
• Social Media Strategy
• Hosting Compliance Consultation
• Web Strategy

For those of you that missed it, we plan on having another event in Bloomington in the near future.

Free Internet Marketing Clinic - Minneapolis Oct 1st

2009-09-23T08:56:00.002-05:00

Blue Hue will be hosting a FREE Internet Marketing clinic on October 1st in Minneapolis. We are extending this invitation to businesses in the Minneapolis area. For details and to sign for the clinic please visit www.bluehueinteractive.com/mplsclinic

great article on social media posts timing

2009-09-16T09:14:00.003-05:00

Great overview on the timing of content posts with social media - enjoy...

thanks to search engine land and jordan kasteler

There are pros and cons of submitting content to social news sites during high-activity hours versus low-activity hours.

High-activity hour submissions: pros
• More votes
• More visitors
• More comments and engagement

High-activity hour submissions: cons
• Content gets filtered out of “new” or “upcoming” sections more quickly
• Visitor bounce rate may be higher due to content noise
• Engagement may be lower due to content noise

Low-activity hour submissions: pros
• Less noise
• More face-time on the “upcoming” or “new” sections.
• Easier front page promotion (speculative)

Low-activity hour submissions: cons
• Fewer visitors
• Fewer votes
• Greater foreign audience (this isn't necessarily a bad thing but it depends on what the content is)
• Less comments and engagement

Facebook SEO tips

2009-09-03T09:01:00.003-05:00

Ten Facebook SEO tips from Search Engine Land

There is a bunch of great information in this article. Consider strongly tip #9. Setting a social media policy, setting timely and consistent posts to bring your audience back and setting up rules for your content categories are all important.

"Contribute continually. A good portion of the physical search results are comprised of social graph points generated within the last 30 days."

Read the entire article.

Great reminder to stay relevant.

2009-08-27T09:20:00.003-05:00

For anyone who missed it, a great article from Aaron Goldman at MediaPost ...

My two favorite points were on relevance and allowing data to guide your decisions.

Relevance rules.
The reason Google became so popular is simply because its search engine displayed the most relevant results. For marketers looking to leapfrog to the top of Google or have your product earn Google-like market share, the key is make your brand relevant. Apple is one company that manages to stay relevant -- read: build a cult-like following -- by continually releasing products that operate best when used with other Apple products, or simply work better than previous versions. It also aligns itself with its audience's passion points like music and design.

Let the data decide.
This could easily roll up into either of the last two points, but it's worthy of its own spot on this list. Too often, marketers use testing or tracking merely to prove an idea to which they were already married. In other words, they -- or their agencies -- come up with a concept that sounds spectacular and "just feels right" and then set up some experiments -- read: focus groups -- and manipulate the data to help push their idea through. Not Google. Per Marissa Mayer, Google "let(s) the math and the data govern how things look and feel" -- some would say to a fault. There's certainly a spectrum from "going with your gut" to letting data decide, but when it comes to being accountable to your boss -- or your shareholders-- doing what the numbers tell you is certainly the most defensible position -- especially if that data is highly targeted.

You can make money if you can provide content ...

2009-08-13T09:15:00.002-05:00

I have seen this link being passed around and then saw Mashable relay the story. This guy has it figured out. He works out, goes to the store and then blogs. He is providing content and links - basic seo - and making good money doing it.

Now if only I had thought of the idea!

Links from popular sites are a great way to build relevance and search strength. How can you provide content or motivation for sites to link to your content?

Think about it. And if you need help, let me know.
Craig
www.bluehueseo.com

Google Webmaster Central

2009-08-06T08:45:00.003-05:00

Anyone involved in SEO is accessing blogs, video and information that may help them improve their site. For anyone who is just starting out or who needs a refresher on some of the best practices that Google is recommending should check out Google Webmaster Central on YouTube. Matt does a great job explaining concepts at an easy level and you will learn something.

enjoy
www.bluehueseo.com

2009-07-30T09:53:00.002-05:00

Search Insider's Aaron Goldman wrote a great article with lot of links and valuable information information. He writes about his top ten ways to use search data beyond your search engine marketing program.

The full article is here: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=110711

1. (Re)Define your audience. Search query data can be a great barometer for your current audience. Using tools like comScore Marketer or Microsoft Advertising Intelligence, you can see the demographic profile of people searching for your brand and your products and services. Mapping this to your traditional target audience can shed some light on if you're talking to your best prospects -- or even who your best prospects really are.

2. Competitive Intelligence. Tracking competitors' keywords and ad copy with tools like AdGooroo SEM Insight can do more than inform PPC campaign optimization, it can help you understand how your competitors are positioning themselves in the marketplace. Meanwhile, tapping up/downstream data from Hitwise can show you how well your competitors are doing at meeting customers' needs. And, of course, good ole Google Trends can give you a sense of your "share of mind" relative to competitors.

3. Refine your USP. Sure, creative testing can help you improve your click-rate and quality score, but how else are you leveraging those insights? Do people respond better to messages about price or product benefits? And what do people do on your site after they've searched? Mining your Web analytics to see where people click and when they convert can tell you a lot about your brand's sales proposition -- unique or you-reek?

4. Adjust your product line/features. As has become habit, I put the call out on Twitter for input on my column and @KrisMcDermott responded with this sage wisdom: "I bet purchasers could get a lot of use out of seeing what people are looking for, using query trends to select new inventory." Indeed. And if you need help deciphering some of those trends, try semantic mapping tools -- including The Bird's The Word, Visuwords, and Google's Wonder Wheel -- to see related themes.

5. Decide what markets to support. Along the same lines as tailoring your product selection, search data can also be used to gauge what geographic markets to penetrate. Google Insights for Search can show you how demand for your brand or category is distributed over specific regions. And your own PPC campaign data can tell you which locations are more likely to convert. So make sure to Google yourself before building that next store.

6. (Re)Develop your Web site. This one's a bit of a no-brainer but still worth noting. I won't belabor the obvious applications of search to Web site development like SEO or on-site search. But how about mining search query data to determine the intent of your site visitors -- informational, navigational or transactional? From there, you can develop paths on your site that are most appropriate to various entrants. And you can create custom content focused on awareness, consideration, and/or action depending on where in the funnel your visitors tend to arrive.

7. Tweak your non-search advertising creative. What calls-to-action are people exposed to your search ads most responsive to -- free shipping, 10% off, buy one/get one? Test them all and then rollout the winner to your creative across all media channels. And tap the zeitgeist via tools like Yahoo Buzz and Twitter Search to see what's hot in pop culture and/or your category. What are people talking about right now? From there, figure out how to incorporate that into your messaging. No better way to pick a celebrity endorser than search query volume.

8. Inform your online display media buys. Checking out what sites your brand (and related) searchers also visit is a great way to assemble your online display media plan. Using tools like Google AdPlanner and comScore Marketer, you might see that consumers that search for your competitors or high cost keywords also frequent a specific category of Web properties -- say news sites. So, rather than (or, in addition to) bidding on competitive or expensive terms, you can try and reach your target on newspaper dot-coms.

9. Measure performance of offline ads. We've all seen the Google Pontiac case study demonstrating the impact TV commercials can have on search activity. The opportunity to use search to gauge media performance doesn't end with TV, though. Query volume for your brand terms and other trademarks used in your offline ads can give you a sense of how other spots are resonating, as long as you can isolate when they ran.

10. Predicting elections. It's become quite fashionable to use tools like Google Trends to try and predict outcomes of events ranging from presidential elections to "American Idol." Last year, I pulled out my magic Google 8 Ball to see if Google could predict the U.S. election looking at query volume state-by-state and, sure enough, the answer came back, "Yes we can." "American Idol"? Not so much.

SEO - Spend your money wisely

2009-07-23T09:18:00.002-05:00

A company who will remain nameless is selling seo training for several thousand dollars. This may be very good training and I'm sure that someone would pull a lot of valuable information from it.

However, I would recommend that anyone, before they sit through paid seminars consider engaging someone such as Blue Hue with specific seo questions about their site. For a fraction of what you would pay for those 3 days of training you could receive specific feedback and recommendations for your site plus the training to create meta data for your site.

Just a thought.
Contact me for your free seo scorecard.
Craig
www.bluehueseo.com

Search - a solid article

2009-07-16T11:00:00.002-05:00

This article was worth the read and provided some solid expectations around search and what to expect. It comes from search insider and media post.

To summarize ...
Plan your seo goals and do what you can well.
Pay attention to the details.
Your search results are always changing - are you?
Deliver a concise message - don't forget a call to action.
Measure results.
Give it time.
Test and redo - repeat.
Keep your content specific and relevant to your audience.
You will have to spend some time and money.
Learn from your mistakes.

If you are confused with your search efforts, contact me for a free seo scorecard.
Good luck.

Craig Schanbacher
www.bluehueseo.com

BlueHueSEO - site is live

2009-07-14T13:43:00.002-05:00

The site is live ... still need to make a few more tweaks.

Craig
www.bluehueseo.com