Submit Express Newsletter #55
June 11, 2002
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1- Intro
2- Overture and Alta Vista Extend Agreement
3- Netscape Goes Google
4- Realnames Closes
5- Wordtracker Tutorial
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1- Intro
We love excitement! However, the most exciting event this month for search
engine marketing professionals was probably the release of Star Wars Episode
II.
May was a relatively quiet month in the search engine industry. This placid
month is actually a welcome relief from the whirlwind events in recent months.
We are happy to say that there is no earth-shattering news to report. The
biggest stories this month involve Overture and AltaVista extending their
partner agreements, Google powering Netscape, and RealNames going out of
business.
This month we are featuring a very good introduction to the Wordtracker keyword
research tool. The mini-tutorial, written by Robin Nobles, is designed to help
Internet marketers more effectively target the best keywords for promoting
their websites.
We also have done an update to our free search engine submission script last
month. "HotBot UK" and a new search engine called ExactSeek.com have been
added. DirectHit has been removed, as Ask Jeeves the owner of the site, decided
to redirect all traffic to Teoma.com, which they also purchased recently.
Currently, there is no free submission available for Teoma.com. However, if
your site has good link popularity, it will be found automatically by Teoma
Crawler.
Feel free to forward this email to all your friends that have websites
who may benefit from this information.
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Thanks,
Submit Express
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2- Overture and Alta Vista Extend Agreement
On May 30th, Overture announced that it extended a pact with AltaVista to
include its Canadian sites. The deal is a one-year agreement that will allow
Overture to distribute its sponsored listings in the "Products and Services"
section of the North American versions of AltaVista. The pact extends the
companies' relationship, which began in Nov. 2000. AltaVista and Overture also
announced agreements to serve users of AltaVista's German and UK-based Internet
search sites. This announcement comes on the heels of Overture's three-year
contract extension with Yahoo last month.
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WordTracker is a unique tool that combines keyword popularity with
lateral searches and misspellings and matches these keywords with
actual competition in several major search engines. This gives you a
huge list of keywords sorted by popularity versus competition, so you
know which keywords to target first. Try out the FREE trial now at:
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3- Netscape Goes Google
Effective May 21st, Google is now powering Netscape's primary search database.
There seem to be a few minor differences in the Google and Netscape search
results, but the rankings are largely the same. There is speculation that
Netscape may be using its own proprietary filtering technology to reduce spam,
but this has not been confirmed.
The Netscape directory is still an exact copy of the Open Directory Project. We
haven't figured out how they order the directory results though - but we do
know that it's not by Google's PageRank technology or alphabetically. It is
important to remember that AOL/TimeWarner own Netscape Corp., and therefore own
the Open Directory. It makes sense that whatever deal AOL/TimeWarner worked
out with Google would impact the Netscape search engine.
Netscape is scheduled to end its PPC affiliation with Overture in August. The
top two Overture results are still being displayed at the top of the page, but
the rest of the results are supplied by Google.
We are anxious to see what affect the Google/Netscape relationship will have on
traffic to our clients' websites. According to statistics from Nielsen
NetRatings, for the month of March, Netscape still had 5 % of search engine
market share and Jupiter Media metrics estimates an 8.7 % market share.
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4- Realnames Closes
Realnames officially closes on July 1st. Microsoft, holding 20% in the company,
will stop its engagement and about 80 employees will lose their jobs. There
has been no official word, but Realnames keywords will probably cease to work.
Realnames was supposed to revolutionize the way searchers found websites on the
Internet. Rather than typing in the entire URL: http://www.pepsi.com into the
browser window or a search engine, visitors could just type in the word "pepsi"
and Realnames would transfer the visitor directly to Pepsi's website.
Companies would pay for specific keywords related to their business. When
Realnames first started we paid $100 for one year of service. We did not
receive a single visitor from Realnames.
Some have said that Realnames failed because they didn't treat their customers
well. We have heard from people who worked with Realnames before Microsoft took
them over, and the experience was incredibly negative.
We believe that Realnames failed because it wasn't marketed. Why didn't
Microsoft advertise the service to death to train website visitors about how
Realnames works? This product would only have become successful if most
Internet users had stopped using regular domain names and switched to
Realnames. That was Realnames' goal.
When Realnames debuted, we actually thought it was a good idea. Unfortunately,
Realnames never made it, despite a large investment by Microsoft and the
service will be relegated to the dot-com death pool. What a shame.
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5- Wordtracker Tutorial - Reprinted with permission of Author
by Robin Nobles
If you're in the search engine industry, or if you're a Web designer or
Webmaster, it's an almost sure thing that you've heard of, and probably used,
Wordtracker...(see below).
http://our.affiliatetracking.net/wordtracker/af.cgi?355
But, for those who may not know about Wordtracker, let's back up for a minute.
- What exactly is Wordtracker, and why is it so important?
Most search engine optimizers would agree that one of the most important things
you can do for your Web site is to target the right keywords. If you target the
wrong keywords, you may get scores of traffic but no conversions to sales, or
no traffic whatsoever. Either is disastrous for an online business.
Before Wordtracker, it was up to the search engine marketer, or the client, to
choose the right keywords for the site. We also had GoTo's Search Term
Suggestion Tool, which was one of our only sources for keyword help at that
time.
Then Wordtracker entered the picture. With Wordtracker, you can plug in some
keywords, and the Web-based service will give you ideas for additional keywords
that might work for your business. Not only that, but the service will also
tell you how competitive those keywords are (how many other Web pages have been
optimized with those keywords in mind) and how many people have actually
searched for those keywords in the past 24 hours at each of the major engines.
Ideally, your goal is to choose a keyword phrase that doesn't have a huge
amount of competition but that (hopefully) a large number of people are
searching for. This is where the KEI comes in. KEI, which stands for Keyword
Effectiveness Index, refers to the number of times a keyword has appeared in
Wordtracker's data compared with the number of competing Web pages, which
points to which keywords would be most effective for your search engine
marketing campaign.
In other words, the higher the KEI, the more popular your keyword phrases are,
and the less competition they have. According to Wordtracker, a "good" keyword
to target is one that has a KEI of around 100, but an "excellent" keyword to
target has a KEI of over 400.
Okay, enough of the background into Wordtracker. Most of you probably already
know all of that. In fact, your path through Wordtracker most likely looks very
similar to mine.
- The "old" way to use Wordtracker
In the past, I have always started at Keyword Universe, or maybe at Keyword
Projects. From there, I work my way through the system. Does it work? Yes, very
effectively. Is it time consuming? Yep.
But, let's look at an easier, and even more effective, way to use Wordtracker.
And with this alternate way, you're actually considering keyword phrases based
on your target audience.
- Introducing John Alexander
To write this article, I interviewed John Alexander, an authority of
Wordtracker who has spent countless hours working through each of the features
and developing his own unique strategy.
As means of introduction, John is a professional search engine optimizer with
Beyond-SEO (see below) and a trainer of onsite search engine marketing
workshops through Search Engine Workshops (see below).
Besides using Wordtracker to find keywords, John actually uses the service to
target an audience's surfing behavior. Once he determines the surfing behavior,
he can use that knowledge to target those who are most likely to purchase his
clients' products or services.
Unlike most of us, John doesn't get "stuck" in Keyword Universe to where the
system does all the thinking for him. Instead, he begins at Comprehensive
Search (found under the Multiple Search heading).
He explains, "Where you'll find most of your 'revelations' or 'insights' is in
the Comprehensive Search feature of Wordtracker. Try entering one part of a
search phrase and letting Comprehensive Search figure out the best 'full use'
of the phrase."
- Let's look at an example
John has a client who sells baby furniture and products online, so he needed to
find the target audience for baby furniture. Putting his creative mind at work,
he started thinking about who would want to buy baby beds and strollers. Not
people with newborns - after all, they already own all of the furniture they
need. The true audience for his client is soon to become parents, grandparents,
etc.
His next step was to use Comprehensive Search to try to determine what his
target audience is looking for. John typed in "baby," and he found some very
interesting results.
People searching for the word "baby" were searching for keyword phrases like
"baby names," "Baby Names," "Baby Boy Names," and so forth.
Bingo! He had the angle he needed to get traffic to the site. Rather than
concentrating on the actual product he was trying to sell, he thought of a way
to pull in traffic through a different window. After all, what will his target
audience be looking for on the Internet? Ideas for names for their new babies!
John adds, "Keep in mind that this angle is also based on the fact that babies
are always on the way, around the world, day after day, which creates an
extremely unique market for certain products. Understand the advantages of
identifying people's behavior, and you'll never look at keyword research quite
the same."
After he has captured the visitors at his site, he can easily slide in the fact
that the site is also selling baby products and furniture. He's gotten them to
the site, which is step #1; they are his target audience, which is step #2; and
with compelling content, he can increase the site's conversion rate to go along
with the increase in traffic.
How did John proceed? He created a page that focused on the meanings of baby
names.
Keep in mind that the page he created has value and unique content. He didn't
just toss together a page, simply for the sake of getting a top ranking.
Instead, he worked hard to find links all over the Web to sites that offer the
meaning of baby names. His page offers tremendous value to the search engine
and users as a one-stop resource for finding links to the meanings of baby
names. Then, in strategically placed spots on the page, he subtly added
pictures of his client's products with links to related pages.
John explains, "Don't ever trick your audience or they will simply never buy.
Give them exactly what they are looking for right up front. In this example, I
created a page that offers baby names and the meanings of baby names, and I
subtly offered a few product listings or links to my client's storefront. It is
essential that you always provide content related to their search first, and
then offer links to appropriate products within your client's site."
- The bottom line?
How did John's strategy work out for his client? The baby names page alone
pulls in an additional 500 unique visitors of extremely targeted traffic each
month.
John adds, "I cannot give you the percentage in terms of the exact increase in
sales, but I can tell you that the client has been very pleased with the
results."
Remember that this is just one page that John added to the site.
He explains, "Had I really wanted to pull out all the stops, I could have
created several entry pages around this one theme. For example, targeting
keyword phrases such as: 'most popular baby names,' etc. You could also build
the content right into the site and extend it through all of the races: Spanish
baby names Italian baby names Jewish baby name French baby names"
Now, let's look at a "new" way to use Wordtracker, John's step-by-step
approach:
To write this article, I came up with a real-life example and I started at step
#1, just like you will do with your own site.
Let's say that your client sells aromatherapy supplies over the Internet. Your
first step is to try to determine the target audience. Who would be buying
aromatherapy supplies? One target audience would be people with stress in their
lives who want to use aromatherapy as a way of relaxing. So, let's try that
angle and see what we come up with.
Go to Comprehensive Search at Wordtracker and type in "relaxation." Click
Proceed. Scroll toward the bottom of the page and click on "Check boxes off."
Scroll back to the top, and look at the various choices. Remember that the
"Predict" column is the predicted traffic you could expect to get for each of
those keyword choices from all of the major engines and directories in one day.
Begin marking keyword ideas, all the while thinking of a strategy to pull in
traffic for your client's site through the target audience. Scroll back to the
bottom of the page and click on "Option 2: Competitive Search." Choose MSN and
Google, since those two engines have the potential of bringing in a lot of
traffic to most Web sites. Of course, you can choose any two engines or
directories that you'd like. Click Proceed. What did we find? "Relaxation" and
associated words were not good choices, because the KEI in comparison to the
projected traffic was too low. Targeting those keywords just wouldn't have been
worth the effort for such a low amount of traffic. Keep in mind that this is a
real-life example, so this is certainly something that could happen to you when
doing this strategy yourself. So, we went back to the drawing board and tried
"aromatherapy." Again, not a good example. Then, we tried "massage." After all,
aromatherapy oils are used when giving massages, and people who are interested
in massages would be a perfect target audience for aromatherapy supplies. After
studying the Wordtracker results for the MSN and Google search engines for
words that include "massage," we picked the third result, "Techniques of
Massage," because it's an excellent and appropriate angle for our client. The
#1 result in MSN has a KEI of 3696, but it wouldn't work with our client's
site. You have to be sure to choose keyword phrases that are appropriate for
your particular client's site.
At MSN, "Techniques of Massage" has a KEI of 255. Within a 24-hour period, if
your site was placed well in the MSN engine, you could expect to get 90
visitors from MSN alone. What is your competition? 1954.
"Techniques of Massage" in Google has a KEI of 900, 165 potential visitors
through Google alone in a 24-hour period, and competition of only 555.
Remember that a "good" KEI is anything over 100, and an "excellent" KEI is
anything over 400.
Let's be honest here. You could manage a top 10 for this keyword phrase with
your eyes closed (and your computer turned off).
So, for our aromatherapy client, we could create a page on the various
techniques of massage, including (of course) her oils and aromatherapy
products. We would spend time on the page and give it true value to both the
engines and the target audience. And, we would subtly add graphics and link
text that points to the client's products in various areas of the page.
John gave another example
He says, "If you're selling 'digital cameras,' don't optimize for 'digital
cameras.' Did you know that everyone is searching for 'Digital Cameras Review'?
Build a page offering reviews of digital cameras, which has a KEI that just
blew me away."
- Another effective strategy: Top Reports
Besides Comprehensive Search, John also likes to look at the top reports for
high performance keywords or topics that are related to his client.
John explains, "I'll review the Long Term Reports, which are the top 1000
keywords over the past 24 hours. Then, I cut and paste any topics related to my
client into Comprehensive Search to get streams of currently 'hot topics.' I
define a hot topic as a popular topic in high demand, which may also have lists
of related keywords phrases also in high demand."
What happens if you can't find a hot topic that relates to your site in the top
1000?
John answers, "Many people do not know that Wordtracker offers extensive top
word reports beyond the database. All you have to do is ask, and they'll sell
you: The Top 20,000 words $99 The Top 100,000 words $500 The Top 500,000 words
$2000"
- Additional suggestions
When John goes to Comprehensive Search, he doesn't put in a huge list of
keyword phrases. He types in one single word, then lets Comprehensive Search do
the rest. This allows him to come up with ideas and angles that he would have
never considered before.
Like John, spend a lot of time thinking of your target audience. Who are you
trying to sell the products or services to? There may be several target
audiences, as in the case of our aromatherapy example. If so, go after keyword
choices to target each of those audiences.
Don't be afraid to let your creativity take hold. If your first few choices
don't work, continue trying. Using Comprehensive Search, it doesn't take long
to go back through the system with a different keyword idea. Keep going back
until you find a possibility that might work for your site or the site of a
client.
Be sure to give the surfer what they're looking for when they choose your site
from the search results. If you promised them "techniques of massage," then be
sure to give them good, solid content in that area, including related links.
Weave your products and services throughout the page as you can. But, don't
ever try to trick a surfer.
If you get stuck and just can't find a keyword phrase with a high KEI and a low
level of competition that will work for you, take a slightly different
approach. Instead of trying to bring in a large amount of traffic through one
single window, try creating several windows and bring in a little traffic
through each one. Though more time consuming, this strategy can be equally
effective in the long run.
If you aren't already a member of Wordtracker, sign up for the free trial and
test the system out for yourself. Pricing is very reasonable, depending on your
needs. For example, you can use the service for a week for $19.94, and many
other plans are available.
The bottom line is this: if you are serious about your Web site, you've got to
be serious about keyword choice. If you're serious about keyword choice,
Wordtracker is a "must have" service for you.
You can visit Wordtracker website below:
http://our.affiliatetracking.net/wordtracker/af.cgi?355
About the Author:
Robin Nobles is the Director of Training of the Academy of Web Specialists
(http://www.academywebspecialists.com/) , where she has trained several
thousand people in her online courses in search engine marketing strategies.
She also teaches 3-day "hands on" search engine marketing workshops in
locations across the globe with Search Engine Workshops
(http://www.searchengineworkshops.com/) , and she has written three books that
can be ordered through Amazon and other bookstores.
Copyright 2010 Robin Nobles. All rights reserved.
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