Last week’s #sbbuzz chat opened the door for us to have a discussion about a mind bender for many: SEO. We focused on the best and low cost ways small businesses can do SEO effectively.
This week we’re not having an #sbbuzz chat (as mistakenly noted in the last summary), our very own @pmohara will be presenting with @mriggen at Web Inno in Boston! We’ll have more #sbbuzz next week, so stay tuned!
- Sbbuzz-ups are every Tuesday, next up is October 6th, 2009 from 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM Eastern Time. Join us – We’re here to facilitate the conversation between small business owners.
- Know small businesses that need help? Let them know when this chat happens, help them get started on Twitter and let’s talk!
- Instructions for participating are at http://sbbuzz.biz/instructions
| sbbuzz: | Welcome one and all to #sbbuzz, a Tweetchat for next 2 hours of small biz talking about technology. Join us! http://sbbuzz.biz/instructions |
| sbbuzz: | Rules: 1)NO pitching till end 2)Be nice 3)Stay ON TOPIC! 4)Send ?s for group to me w/o hashtag 5)Use #sbbuzz in all messages 6)Have fun! |
| sbbuzz: | To start off we have introductions: 1 message about you and your business and whatever else we need to know. #sbbuzz |
| bradfordshimp: | Bradford Shimp here, I help small businesses with web solutions … and more. Also write a blog. #sbbuzz |
| smallbiztrends: | Tweet chat starting on small business and technology, for next 2 hours. Search for or use tag #sbbuzz to participate. |
| Kmacopy: | #sbbuzz Hi all. Freelance marketing copywriter, SEO articles, web content, and more. Haven’t been on an sbbuzz chat in a while. |
| MHBoys: | Michael Boys with On-Site Technical Solutions, Inc., IT Department to small and mid sized business in Southern California, 1st time #sbbuzz |
| pmohara: | Hi all – Pamela here from @batchblue and your hostess with the mostest here on #sbbuzz |
| scoblitz: | @sbbuzz Scott Blitstein – Owner of eSeMBe, blogger, tech go-to guy, music lover and all around good guy. #sbbuzz |
| merylevans: | Content maven aka freelance writer and editor here from Plano, TX and my online office at http://www.meryl.net. #sbbuzz |
| Whistletree: | @Whistletree here. We provide free and toll free conferencing, webinar and podcasting services. #sbbuzz |
| NateRich: | Howdy! Nate Rich here, Video Editor | Motion Graphics artist | Creative . What up! #sbbuzz |
| sbbuzz: | Our discussion topic for #sbbuzz tonight is SEO. Please send me any questions you’d like discussed with the crowd. |
| deneki: | Hi guys! Andrew with Deneki Outdoors – I run fly fishing lodges. #sbbuzz |
| black_hattitud: | http://minurl.fr/yoq Our discussion topic for #sbbuzz tonight is SEO. Please send me an.. http://bit.ly/48tyg #seo |
| emergeformen: | Hi all – EMERGE For Men here – we offer a product that will enhance hair for those suffering from male pattern baldness #sbbuzz |
| natecrobertson: | @natecrobertson Hello! Founder and president of Ascend Technology Services, IT Support and consulting for small biz in Washington DC #sbbuzz |
| pmohara: | @scoblitz @bradfordshimp Identity crisis, guys? I hardly recognized ya.  #sbbuzz |
| wvpmc: | Hi all – Wendy Van Parys Marketing Communications from CT #sbbuzz #smbiz |
| rjleaman: | Hi all – Rebecca (blogger) here. I’ll be mostly lurking tonight, loads of work to do – but didn’t want to miss another one entirely! #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz What’s shakin’? Rob Z – Web Develope to the stars here. |
| emergeformen: | @sbbuzz – how do we send you questions? Just to the #sbbuzz hashtag? Sorry, this is my first tweet chat! #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz but a horrible typist, apparently. |
| colderICE: | Hi all – Joining in on the fun tonight, be nice cause I am a newbie  #sbbuzz |
| bradfordshimp: | @pmohara That’s what Scott really looks like in real life. #sbbuzz |
| virtuallyideal1: | Hello everyone. Kyra here. Fun VA #sbbuzz |
| merylevans: | @rzazueta Ha! We figure you are a developer or you’ve developed Stars? Like the sun or whom? #sbbuzz |
| scoblitz: | @bradfordshimp @pmohara I think it’s a striking resemblance actually #sbbuzz |
| selahsynergy: | @sbbuzz Hi All! Susan here from Selah Synergy hoping to learn about SEO tonight. #sbbuzz |
| atonti: | MoFuse helps small businesses to have a mobile website for less time and money. We can help you understand your mobile audience #sbbuzz |
| njtwtads: | From AZ, love tweeting and want to help those that don’t. Started njtwtads w/ sister #sbbuzz |
| scoblitz: | @pmohara my old avatar was lost in the great twitter update of ’09 #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @merylevans Half developed, still developing. And all my clients are stars, dahling. #sbbuzz |
| BizMoneySaver: | Greetings everyone. Lisa here from IT Mechanic. Interested in learning something new. #sbbuzz |
| selahsynergy: | @colderICE Welcome colderICE! #sbbuzz |
| emergeformen: | @sbbuzz – I’d like to know what cost-effective ways a small biz can do SEO. I know it can be expensive, capital is tight #sbbuzz |
| sbbuzz: | Q1 How are you keeping up with SEO efforts? DO you do it yourself? Have staff? Outsource? #sbbuzz |
| pmohara: | @scoblitz I’m liking the half gloves! #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz Q1: I do it myself (but that’s my job I’m VERY wary of so-called SEO experts. |
| Infusionsoft: | Need help with SEO? join #sbbuzz for next 2 hrs of small biz talking about technology http://sbbuzz.biz/instructions (via @sbbuzz) |
| emergeformen: | Depends on what qualifies as “SEO”. I’ve used Google Webmaster tools, but we don’t have staff..so I guess it’s just “us” #sbbuzz |
| deneki: | Q1: doing my best to keep up with it myself! #sbbuzz |
| scoblitz: | @sbbuzz Q1: It’s all me, but my efforts haven’t been too significant beyond some basics. #sbbuzz |
| colderICE: | All of our SEO is done in house…and ummm I AM the house its in LOL #sbbuzz |
| BizMoneySaver: | I do my own SEO to save money and it’s also my job. I setup Google Alerts and RSS feeds to stay on top of new SEO trends. #sbbuzz |
| emergeformen: | Q1: @scoblitz – yes, same here. Can’t see many small biz owners going the full SEO route – it’s a tough ROI IMHO #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz I’m very zen on SEO. Build good online relationships, exchange links with relevant, solid sites and it takes care of itself. |
| sanjeevaggarwal: | Does anyone use tools like LotusJump or WebCEO for SEO? #sbbuzz #sbbuzz |
| bradfordshimp: | Q1 – Do my own SEO, but focus more on quality and quantity of content than anything else. Working on backlinks, etc. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz Write blog posts, share your links on Twitter, FB, etc. get the word out there. Let your fans talk you up. |
| Whistletree: | Q1 We’ve outsourced SEO, but question doing so. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz form good joint marketing ventures, do some guest blogging, whatever… all of that extends your reach and helps Google find you. |
| pmohara: | Q1 we use @hubspot to find keywords, monitor rankings.The hard part is @mriggen‘s work speaking keywordese in a natural way #sbbuzz |
| emergeformen: | @rzazueta – that’s helpful info – we’ve got a twitter site, but haven’t yet considered blog posts or FB…yet #sbbuzz |
| scoblitz: | @rzazueta I don’t do any formal link exchanges but I do benefit from some high profile quality sites that link to mine. #sbbuzz |
| chuckCGAZ: | From AZ financing business owners through FACTORING A/R’s. Need to lrarn SEO. #sbbuzz |
| sbbuzz: | Q2 from @emergeformen What cost-effective ways can a small biz do SEO? #sbbuzz |
| smallbiztrends: | @sanjeevaggarwal We have used LotusJump for purposes of identifying places to get visibility online. #sbbuzz |
| BizMoneySaver: | Q1 Found that online press releases work along with other social media (i.e Twitter, FB, etc.). #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @emergeformen If you write good content that useful to your customers and keyword-laden, that’s a HUGE SEO boon. #sbbuzz |
| bradfordshimp: | Q2 – I think one of the best ways to do SEO is to blog regularly. Also, guest post. #sbbuzz |
| scoblitz: | @pmohara I use some of the free tools that @hubspot provides – they are very helpful. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz Q2: Write a blog, blend SEO into your other mktg efforts (online joint ventures, etc.), get involved in relevant online communities |
| deneki: | Q2: provide quality content and update it regularly. That’s rule #1 for sure. #sbbuzz |
| deneki: | Agreed with @bradfordshimp – regular blog posts are key. #sbbuzz |
| NateRich: | Q2 I also find blogging to be my best friend. It really pushes relativity and gets nice results. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz One thing that hasn’t changed since the early days of the web – Content is King. |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz Q2: Also, make extra certain yoru site is built to be easily indexed by the search engines. |
| emergeformen: | @bizmoneysaver – will press releases help a consumer oriented biz? #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz Sites done in all Flash = invisible to Google. |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz don;t hide navigation in JavaScript, Flash or images with ALT tags, etc. Do a “View Source” on your site to see what spiders see. |
| scoblitz: | @sbbuzz Q2 – Google Webmaster Tools are free can give some good info on keywords and how your site is indexed. #sbbuzz |
| wvpmc: | @emergeformen I hard link key word phrases in press releases #sbbuzz |
| bradfordshimp: | @smallbiztrends I’ve used LotusJump as well. I liked it, just couldn’t keep up with it. But very nice for pointing out options. #sbbuzz |
| MHBoys: | @bizmoneysaver do you have good sites to publish online news releases? #sbbuzz |
| chuckCGAZ: | Q My web page is a ourc copy? How can I SEO this site? or is it a wasted effort? #sbbuzz |
| emergeformen: | @rzazueta – I followed this advice with our site. No FLASH, and indexed to Google within a week! #sbbuzz |
| bradfordshimp: | If you have a local business, try blogging about local news and events, and tie in offers to sports events, etc. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @scoblitz Exactly – I look at those and think, “Wow, how can I get OTHER people to link to me?” #sbbuzz |
| BizMoneySaver: | Press release can help consumer oriented businesses. It helps raise awareness about your business. #sbbuzz |
| Kmacopy: | Q2 blogposts, press releases and weaving keywords naturally into your site copy are some of the easier “free” ways to boost rankings.#sbbuzz |
| bradfordshimp: | @rzazueta Right, its my understanding that you should keep the coding simple and clean. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz Make sure every trade org or whatever you’re a member of links to your site – including chamber of commerce, etc. |
| Kmacopy: | Q2 generally press releases done for SEO purposes don’t have to be as newsworthy as traditional releases #sbbuzz keep forgetting my hashtag! |
| KelsonV: | All-Flash sites are also invisible to smartphone users, even with iPhone & Android. @rzazueta #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz And try to convince them to not use the nofollow tag – it no longer really affects your Google juice. |
| Kmacopy: | Q2 do have to be careful that you don’t “stuff” keywords into your copy. Spiders don’t like that. #sbbuzz |
| emergeformen: | @bizmoneysaver – thx, must be the corp marketing person in me. Always thought those were just for the wires (am I dating myself?) #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @bradfordshimp Precisely. Another trick is to code for the blind – add useful ALT tags to images, make sure text is in HTML, etc. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @KelsonV And to anyone behind a strict corporate firewall. #sbbuzz |
| BizMoneySaver: | @MHBoys I use prweb.com a lot. As well as some free ones. #sbbuzz |
| sbbuzz: | Q3 Why does SEO have such a bad rap? #sbbuzz |
| wvpmc: | @BizMoneySaver which are your favorite free ones? #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | Q3: ‘Cause there are a LOT of shady folks who will take your money with few results. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz Q3: in SEO, a lot of folks focus on traffic. But traffic that doesn’t convert into paying customers is worthless. |
| merylevans: | @sbbuzz It’s more complicated than many think, rules keep changing and spammers abuse it. #sbbuzz |
| shipwire: | To save shipping costs place your best sellers in multiple warehouses geographically close to your buyers #sbbuzz http://www.shipwire.com |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz Using a variety of tactics – both shady and kosher – I can get you TONS of traffic. But most SEO folks won;t help with conversions. |
| BizMoneySaver: | @wvpmc Some of my favorite free ones are free-press-release.com, prlog.com, and pr.com to name a few. #sbbuzz |
| NateRich: | Q3 – Because people try to make irrelevant content relevant. They try to cheat the system. Easier 2 fake it than actually b rel. #sbbuzz |
| black_hattitud: | http://minurl.fr/yoq #sbbuzz Using a variety of tactics – both shady and kosher – I can.. http://bit.ly/3HLiq5 #seo |
| shipwire: | @wvpmc we hardlink our press releases too. Great tip. #sbbuzz |
| scoblitz: | @rzazueta Mine have mostly been a result of the relationships I’ve built. Links are never the goal but sure can be a nice benefit #sbbuzz |
| chuckCGAZ: | Q4 My page is a purch site. Can I SEO this? #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @merylevans SEO is far simpler than most people think. If you have great, fresh content and are active online, SEO just happens. #sbbuzz |
| joemagennis: | Q3) Hi all, how’s everyone 2night. Question is really about the people not the practice. Well optimized sites are just good business #sbbuzz |
| shipwire: | @rzazueta do you think that Video will “soon” be the new king of “content”. Thinking about Bing placement #sbbuzz |
| scoblitz: | @merylevans speaking of spammers – SEO talk sure brings the Twitter bots out in full force. #sbbuzz |
| merylevans: | @rzazueta Many folks (me too) have fresh content, listen and participate… yet search engines continue to not reward us. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @scoblitz I think this is the best way to get custoemrs. Build relationships, make it worth linking to you. SEO follows. #sbbuzz |
| SweetBizNews: | Joining in late to discussion. I keep hoping that “content is king” #sbbuzz |
| BizMoneySaver: | Google Analytics is a good free tool to help determine what’s working on your site as well as SEO. #sbbuzz |
| wvpmc: | @rzazueta thoughts on how email (newsletter, for example) links to website affect ranking? #sbbuzz |
| colderICE: | Q3 SEO is like magic, magicians do tricks & only other magician know how its done. Slight of hand, camera angles, smoke and mirrors #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @shipwire Sure seems like it’s going to be, but it will never replace written content. Video is too difficult to deal with. #sbbuzz |
| mattgillooly: | @sbbuzz – Q3 – because their rhymes aren’t tight. #sbbuzz |
| emergeformen: | @bizmoneysaver – we use Google Analytics as well #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @merylevans Are you getting a lot of links back to your site? Are you making your content easy to share? Do you encouraging sharing? #sbbuzz |
| Kmacopy: | @shipwire Because spiders don’t index video, it would be hard for video to become the new king in terms of rankings #sbbuzz |
| merylevans: | @rzazueta Si, oui, ja. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @wvpmc Newsletter links do little for SEO unless that email is posted somewhere accessible to Google. #sbbuzz |
| BizMoneySaver: | I’ve found that writing articles and adding a link back to my website helps with SEO as well as linking building. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @Kmacopy Plus, have you ever tried to get something like a recipe off a video? Great for showing technique, lousy for research. #sbbuzz |
| SweetBizNews: | Should we all start writing shorter posts? #sbbuzz |
| colderICE: | Q3: The real deal is simply to go to http://ow.ly/qB4x #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @merylevans Are you getting a lot of linkbacks to your content? Do those links contain the keywords you’re targeting? #sbbuzz |
| MHBoys: | @merylevans how do you make the content easy to share? #sbbuzz |
| Kmacopy: | @rzazueta Yeah. Great point! lol Still have to match content with the right medium. #sbbuzz. |
| joemagennis: | @Kmacopy @rzazueta .. my understanding is that there are attempts being made to index flash content. Is that fact? #sbbuzz |
| emergeformen: | @rzazueta – +1 – video is also more time consuming. How many SMEs can devote time to developing something worthy? #sbbuzz |
| wvpmc: | @rzazueta is bing creating new rules for SEO? how about getting ready for web 3.0? #sbbuzz |
| sbbuzz: | Q4 How do you balance writing good copy with getting good Google juice? #sbbuzz |
| merylevans: | @rzazueta Yes — I’m fortunate to write for some good sites and often have linkbacks on correct topics. #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @sbbuzz Creating semantic, relevant copy for people and Google will follow. (pun intended) #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @wvpmc Ha, what’s your definition of Web 3.0? Mine is ubiquity. I don;t think Bing is really changing the game too much… #sbbuzz |
| merylevans: | @MHBoys Blog has sharing tools. Ppl RT links. My main ID is @merylkevans. Might help to see that. #sbbuzz |
| bradfordshimp: | Q4 – The balance is weighting far more on the side of good copy. #sbbuzz |
| Kmacopy: | @emergeformen Video is also pricier 2 if you’re having to outsource; I’m not talking You Tube videos. Cheaper to write a content pg. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz However, Twitter is… Google, Bing and others are now looking at freshness and relevance to current events and trends as a marker. |
| wvpmc: | @rzazueta web 3.0 > semantic web #sbbuzz |
| colderICE: | Q4 Your copy should be written to SELL while you ads can be written for GOOGLE and neither of the two should be confused IMHO #sbbuzz |
| emergeformen: | Q4: Wow – alhough I’ve been published, writing good copy isn’t easy…I’d say focus first on copy, get the “juice” later #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @joemagennis That’s a fact, but it’s not easy. Not all Flash content is stored as readable text… #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @joemagennis My inderstanding is that Google is still trying but it’s not as big a focus. #sbbuzz |
| Kmacopy: | @joemagennis I would imagine indexing flash is likely to be around the corner, but I don’t know for sure. #sbbuzz |
| Kmacopy: | Q4 I’m partial of course as a writer, but good writing always prevails, in customer’s eyes and in Google’s. #sbbuzz |
| sbbuzz: | Don’t forget to send me a DM or message w/o the hashtag with questions you want discussed with the group. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @wvpmc The semantic web theoretically makes it easier to index information, but I don;t think it will change things too much… #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | A good publisher monitors their Web stats; bounce rates are a close indicator that show relevance to visitors. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @wvpmc At the end of the day, it’s still about good content placed in a readable format. The semantic web gives more control… #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @wvpmc …over how a site is read, but the spammers will still game it. #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @rzazueta The semantic Web also helps people logically follow a piece of copy. Headings, Lists, Alt/Title attributes, etc. #sbbuzz |
| Kmacopy: | @colderICE A good copywriter should be able 2 write copy that sells (or compels people to act) and which features keywords naturally #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz It’s my opinion that SEO is really kind of dead. You’re best off putting your links directly in front of your customers. |
| scoblitz: | @sbbuzz Q4 I just write my copy and let the rest take care of itself. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz SEO relies too much on serendipity. It’s still important, but the competition is just too tight. |
| JoeManna: | @rzazueta But spammers can’t game the consistency of a fresh Website with good content. I see weak tactics from their part. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz Identify blogs and sites where your customers are and get involved – guest blog, write articles, etc. |
| pmohara: | Q4 Compelling writing has been our focus, but we do pay attention to a consistent us of keywords and it has paid off. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @JoeManna That’s not really the semantic web doing that – you can also do it with CSS. It’s less for readers and more for browsers. #sbbuzz |
| CompeteSEO: | @rzazueta #sbbuzz How is SEO not putting link directly in front of your customers searching what you have to offer? Unless your SEO is weak. |
| rzazueta: | @JoeManna Spammers constantly game the system this way. This is why pagerank relies so heavily on linkbacks from trusted sites. #sbbuzz |
| joemagennis: | @rzazueta I agree about Dead statement. Universal & personalized search makes ranking relative. Focus on converting content #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz It still amazes me how often I see my writing on some spammer’s site because they stole it. |
| colderICE: | I think I will add this to the conversation that a good Title will TRUMP good Copy #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @SEM_SEO_SMO It does do that, but in a very slapshot way. You’re there next to competitors and presumably relevant links… #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @rzazueta But trusted sites have become aware of their PageRank and have nofollowed user-content. It minimizes abuse. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @SEM_SEO_SMO IS a link on Google better than a link on, say, a trusted site in your industry that contains an article you wrote… #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @SEM_SEO_SMO proving your expertise in the field? #sbbuzz |
| nrohrbach: | Running late, fish weren’t biting #sbbuzz |
| CompeteSEO: | @rzazueta figures you would talk down about SEO when your homepage has PR0. If you had any SEO success, you would be pro-SEO. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz To be clear: I don;t think SEO is not worthwhile, I just think it’s been played up as far more important than it really is. |
| wvpmc: | @rzazueta @SEM_SEO_SMO what matters is being where your best prospects, customers are #sbbuzz |
| writerobrien: | #sbbuzz Q# Becauze companies farm out SEO to cheap writers who write cheaply. Pay good writers, get good writing. Period. |
| rzazueta: | @wvpmc Precisely. And I like the halo effect that comes from being on a trusted site better than Google. #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @rzazueta I agree, a lot of hype in the industry. Writing content for a robot will only net so much return; write for people. #sbbuzz |
| wvpmc: | @rzazueta do’t you think SEO is most helpful in long tail biz mktg? #sbbuzz |
| writerobrien: | @colderICE #sbbuzz I agree. A good title catches the search engines more quickly than the content. |
| CompeteSEO: | @rzazueta #sbbuzz Want to see results? Get a bunch of bookmarks to your next blog post, on any site. I can get you 1200 social bookmarks. |
| sbbuzz: | All – don’t forget this is a friendly discussion. We love hearing everyone’s opinion as long as it is constructive. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @wvpmc Only if you have a big catalog that serves the long tail. Otherwise, you’re talking about a niche. #sbbuzz |
| nrohrbach: | @JoeManna exactly, write for people! Those backlinks are pretty valuable in the equation as well #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @wvpmc Better to target and nail that niche – get to know exactly where they are. #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @sbbuzz A little conflict never hurt anyone. It builds character. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @wvpmc I think SEO in the long tail really only helps bigger companies like Amazon or eBay. #sbbuzz |
| sbbuzz: | Q5 How much attention do you pay to keywords? How often do you review them (if at all)? #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | Local search SEO is not new, it’s just more common now to search for local establishments. It’s hot because ppl ignored it so long. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz Q5: All the time, and not just for SEO. Great way to get marketing and business ideas as well. |
| leoraw: | @rzazueta yes, I agree – often one is writing for a niche and not to be found by anyone in the whole wide world. Perfect that niche. #sbbuzz |
| writerobrien: | @colderICE #sbbuzz What I mean is start with a good title and, of course, make sure the content is fantastic. Good writing is a given. |
| JoeManna: | Q5: I monitor several major phrases to monitor changes and activity. Brand awareness/monitoring and Monthly SEO/SEM volume, too. #sbbuzz |
| nrohrbach: | Q5: I pay a lot of attention to keywords, use them as a thesaurus, review them quarterly. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @leoraw Yup, and if you REALLY get to know that niche, they’ll learn to trust you and recommend you to others. #sbbuzz |
| Kmacopy: | Q5 You should review keywords periodically because the way people search and the terms they use change over time. #sbbuzz |
| leoraw: | Q5 every few months I go through sites and work on keywords. For some sites (like library) I don’t bother – they promote locally. #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @colderICE Whenever I land on a larger Web property that has long-tail products, I immediately leave. #sbbuzz |
| BizMoneySaver: | Q5: Google Alerts can help monitor keywords as well. I use it all the time in addition to my web logs and Google Analytics. #sbbuzz |
| colderICE: | @wvpmc @rzazueta SEO over TIME carries more weight than any other factor used by the SERPs (search engine rank pages) #sbbuzz |
| leoraw: | @BizMoneySaver I have used Google Alerts a bit; you are right, should use it more for keywords! Automated. #sbbuzz |
| emergeformen: | Q5: for our biz, keywords are highly relevant. Think of how many baldness remedies exist – you want to know what terms are searched #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @colderICE Don’t apologize – it’s my opinion and I may be wrong. How do you make it work for you? #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | Q5: While not SEO, it relates to the human aspect of content relevance — monitoring social media spaces is useful for buzz-tracking #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @colderICE Good point… I think I was confusing long tail SEO with long tail selling… But I still say targeting a niche is best #sbbuzz |
| bradfordshimp: | Keywords are more important for me with business sites, don’t worry about them as much on my blog, because I write what I want to. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @colderICE Plus, if it’s truly a long-tail type niche and you’re one of the few targeting it, SEO ought to be a natural. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz Yikes – I gotta run home. I apologize for dominating this discussion like this – SEO is a hot button topic for me. |
| rzazueta: | #sbbuzz But, as always, I feel like I learned a lot. You guys flippin’ rock! |
| colderICE: | @rzazueta I just put out so much junk that it gets shelf life, LMAO #sbbuzz And I have been doing the same lines on some sku’s for years |
| sbbuzz: | q6 from @Whistletree Does SEO work for dynamic websites? We are always upgrading our website, how does that impact SEO? #sbbuzz |
| bradfordshimp: | @rzazueta See ya! #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | Keyword relevance is becoming more important, I’ve seen more long-tail searches more than before. 2-4 word phrases = dominance. #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @rzazueta Thanks for participating. It’s my first #sbbuzz tweetchat. #sbbuzz |
| rzazueta: | @JoeManna WHOA! Welcome, then! Look forward to seeing you at the next one! #sbbuzz |
| Kmacopy: | Q6 I think dynamic sites have an advantage, because spiders want fresh content. #sbbuzz |
| bradfordshimp: | I think good reviews and write ups are just as important for a web product, such as Whistletree, as any SEO. #sbbuzz |
| joemagennis: | @Whistletree make sure you have a good permalink structure in place at the start. Don’t break backlinks by changing site too often. #sbbuzz |
| bradfordshimp: | @joemagennis Great advice! I broke my backlinks once and learned that lesson. Luckily I wasn’t too far in. #sbbuzz |
| wvpmc: | @JoeManna welcome! #sbbuzz |
| colderICE: | Q5: I try to monitor about once a quarter or 4x a year diligently, and we amp up everything in the 4th Q to maximize traffic #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | Dynamic sites gain equity the more they update. Should make use of all on-page SEO elements (titles, meta desc, headings, etc.). #sbbuzz |
| BizMoneySaver: | @joemagennis Great point! This is so important with blogs. WordPress does a good job of handling this for us. Just have to be aware. #sbbuzz |
| merylevans: | @joemagennis Yeah, good advice. Unfortunately, I started blogging in 2000. Was too far along for any changes. Dislike dates in URL #sbbuzz |
| Kmacopy: | #sbbuzz. Alright everyone. I’ve gotta run now. Enjoyed chatting and learning! |
| joemagennis: | @merylevans @BizMoneySaver .. right. WP lets you custom structure. I also dislike dates and use keyword rich permalink structure #sbbuzz |
| Whistletree: | @JoeManna Thanks, that makes sense. #sbbuzz |
| MHBoys: | #sbbuzz thanks and a pleasure meeting everyone. see you next time, lots of useful information |
| leoraw: | @merylevans If you don’t have numbers in your permalinks and you have large blog, you could have slow site. So dates=good. #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | A nice clean URL structure helps dynamic sites grow logically; Agreed to not make URL changes (even if 301′ing it). #sbbuzz |
| leoraw: | I need to write a post about permalink structure and why for large blogs it is good to use numbers like post num or date. #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @joemagennis What’s your preferred mix? I enjoy “category/postslug” in WP. #sbbuzz |
| deneki: | @JoeManna 301′ing it? #sbbuzz |
| sbbuzz: | Q7 from @scoblitz What do peple think of recent info from Google that keyword meta tags are ignored http://bit.ly/NEPkP ? #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @deneki 301 Redirect … a permanent redirect, passing along PageRank. Often causes Google to sandbox a URL to be safe. #sbbuzz |
| deneki: | @JoeManna Gotcha – thanks. #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | Q7: I think meta tags are completely abused as an industry and Google paid minimal benefit to it. Meta description is where it’s at. #sbbuzz |
| joemagennis: | @leoraw would love to see post so I can re-consider the process. @JoeManna .. that’s the format, but I’ll tweak the slug at times #sbbuzz |
| sbbuzz: | Oops- misspelling credited to the bee, not the scoblitz.  #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | Q7: cont’d – Google has way too many factors to weigh in a site’s quality; meta tags aren’t on the top of the food chain. #sbbuzz |
| leoraw: | Q7 – keyword meta tags – one less thing to worry about – title tag most imp, then description tag; what’s in your H1 and H2 also #sbbuzz |
| emergeformen: | @JoeManna – I agree, although I haven’t used meta description, the meta tagging was so abused, Google had to ignore. #sbbuzz |
| sbbuzz: | Announcement: No #sbbuzz chat next week. We will be in DC attending the #growsmartbiz conference http://tinyurl.com/gsbiz #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @emergeformen Meta descriptionsare golden, especially if it supplements titles. About 180 characters as a lede for the page. #sbbuzz |
| joemagennis: | Q7) I thought that was already a discounted factor, didn’t realize it was a new update. #sbbuzz |
| leoraw: | @joemagennis Meanwhile you can read this geeky post to understand the permalink problem http://bit.ly/eAIRg #sbbuzz |
| colderICE: | #sbbuzz Q7: I think Google ignores meta keyword, but NOT meta descriptions so not all tags are completely irrelevant… http://ow.ly/qBjZ |
| merylevans: | @joemagennis It was WP — but it was just too late when I realized the date problem. #sbbuzz |
| merylevans: | @leoraw Well, not that big. About 3000 posts in nine years. #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @joemagennis Google has long held ‘no comment’ on Meta Tags, but officially they ruled them out. But we all know it had little rank. #sbbuzz |
| BizMoneySaver: | Alt tags that contain relevant keywords are also important. I also include relevant keywords with my image file names and others. #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @merylevans A well planned, big 301-redirect would be OK; penalized temporarily but all backlinks would pass along juice. #sbbuzz |
| joemagennis: | @leoraw thanks for that. Very interesting. I need to study that some more. #sbbuzz |
| sbbuzz: | Q8 Who do you trust to give you SEO advice? #sbbuzz |
| colderICE: | I gained alot of knowledge…Great chat guys, gotta run, but I will b back in 2 weeks for the next one! #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @colderICE Have fun, nice to meet you on #sbbuzz #sbbuzz |
| leoraw: | @joemagennis I got it off the WordPress Codex http://bit.ly/TO40L (Read the Manual, it helps! #sbbuzz |
| deneki: | Q8: I’ve learned a lot about SEO from @problogger #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @sbbuzz Q8: I trust no one source, specifically. I prefer experience over practice, results over theory. #sbbuzz |
| wvpmc: | @colderICE glad you could join us tonight! #sbbuzz |
| leoraw: | @colderICE thanks for joining, nice to meet you! #sbbuzz |
| leoraw: | Q8 I read 10 different posts on one topic and try to figure out what makes the most sense. Like Permalink Structure! #sbbuzz |
| scoblitz: | @sbbuzz Q8 My fellow sbbuzzers of course… am learning a lot tonight! #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | Q8: To be honest, I follow the blackhats so I know what I won’t do. Generally, Google targets blackhats –with reason. #sbbuzz |
| leoraw: | Q8 @manikarthik has a nice SEO blog http://www.dailyseoblog.com/ #sbbuzz |
| joemagennis: | @leoraw I just never considered the site loading factor as it relates to permalink structure. #sbbuzz |
| leoraw: | @joemagennis It might be that it has to get REALLY large for it to be a problem. And maybe they’ll fix it? #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @leoraw I think the culprit is when you have duplicate post slugs; with caching, performance is a tiny problem. #sbbuzz |
| BizMoneySaver: | Q8 http://www.seomoz.org/blog along with http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs are two that I read pretty often. #sbbuzz |
| sbbuzz: | Q9: Any other resources you would recommend for learning more about (or keeping up with) SEO? #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | Q8: Test, ask around, trial and error is the best learning tool. Not all SEO pieces of advice is relevant to every industry. #sbbuzz |
| BizMoneySaver: | You can setup a Google alert for SEO or SEM and choose which information you would like to read further. This is what I do. #sbbuzz |
| wvpmc: | @JoeManna curious about your comment re: industry specificity – please elaborate #sbbuzz |
| BizMoneySaver: | Q9: I would also suggest finding podcasts on SEO or SEM. I like them because they are FREE :>). #sbbuzz |
| Chris_Hendricks: | I like Ed Taylor’s tactics on SEO just watched his latest video http://www.edtaylor.com/ashland.html #sbbuzz |
| emergeformen: | Q9: attend a sbbuzz-up! #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @wvpmc Example… what works great for an carpet cleaner in SEO might not work for a graphic designer. Bottom line: relevance. #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | Q9: Google around where you have deficiencies and see if SEO/SEM would improve it. Many great articles/minds out there. #sbbuzz |
| leoraw: | Q9 I learn a lot from looking at Google Analytics and Google Webmasters stats. Just remembering to take a look can give ideas. #sbbuzz |
| ImmersionIT: | @AcquireCom interesting discussion tonight on SEO, do a hash search for #sbbuzz |
| pmohara: | Q9 I mentioned @hubspot before – they have a TON of great content on creating great content. Figures, huh? #sbbuzz |
| wvpmc: | @JoeManna are you referring to different keyword phrases – or different techniques #sbbuzz |
| joemagennis: | Q9) I subscribe to email newsletters from WebProNews http://bit.ly/6R93L & WebProBusiness http://bit.ly/1474l5 good insights. #sbbuzz |
| JoeManna: | @wvpmc All the above. On-page SEO is relatively the same, but at different angles of attack. #sbbuzz |
| sbbuzz: | That ends tonight’s SEO throw-down. Thanks all for the passionate discourse. Great to have so many new faces! #sbbuzz |
