Bruce Clay Australasia Launches SEO Blog
SMX Sydney is going on this week in Oz. While I use the occasion to abuse Aussie slang, the Bruce Clay team decided to make a rage of it and launch their grouse new Australia SEO blog. Congrats team BCA! Search marketer Marc Elison has been liveblogging flat out like a lizard drinking while Kate Gamble has taken on the bizzo of editor/commentator. The end result is ace!
But since the blog is still just a joey, I thought I’d post about some of the good oil Marc has written so you can see what’s going down in the Lucky Country. (Please don’t add my name to the list of people banned from Australia. I promise to stop harassing the language now.)
Here are my top takeaways from day one of SMX Sydney, as read from BCA’s liveblog coverage.
- Should you host your videos on your site or on YouTube? Unless your site is the industry leader by far, Google generally returns YouTube results first. Piggyback on YouTube’s established SEO strength.
- Podcasts offer more flexibility than videos. Time limits are less important for podcasts than videos and are usually easier to produce.
- Include transcripts of visual and audio media on your site to help with SEO. The text keywords included in transcripts can reinforce silo themes.
- Cross promote your multimedia content through Facebook, other social media sites and any channel that has good visibility within your audience.
Search Engine Friendly Web Design
- SEO vs. Visual Design: In order to create the best possible working environment between the search marketing and Web design teams, specify SEO requirements before plans for design are created. This includes unique title URLs, headings, the amount of content per page and some links.
- SEO vs. Technology: Technology and SEO are not at odds as long as you weigh the costs and benefits of using AJAX and client-side processes that affect SEO. Use such technologies as an enhancement, not for core content and links.
- SEO vs. Accessibility: Accessibility best practices not only allow disabled users to access the site; they often are SEO best practices as well. An accessible site helps: in legal compliance, with low bandwidth users, with mobile browsers, with users with older hardware and software, and with search engines.
- SEO vs. Cost: When compared to any other online marketing channel, SEO almost always produces the highest ROI. In order to continually prove your value, become a Web analytics expert.
- Link building strategies:
- You can never have too much great content.
- Post press releases online.
- List your site in all appropriate directories.
- Analyze your competitors for in-link opportunities.
- Try asking for a link. It works more often than you might think.
- Leverage social media and develop your personal brand within those communities.
- Where to start:
- Become familiar with Google’s webmaster guidelines.
- Begin by looking at authority directories.
- Press release sites such as PRWeb.com and PRZOOM.com are SEO friendly.
- Submit articles to sites such as EzineAticles.com and ArticleBASE.com.
- Find social media news and sharing sites specific to your niche or industry.
- Internet searches were around before Google and the current search leader wasn’t always the dominant force. SEO is an industry that is always changing and the SEO profession requires enthusiasm and continuous training.
- SEO is like the television show “House”. The symptoms of a poorly performing site are hard to diagnose and it can take several rounds of experimenting before a cure is found.
- SEO can be compared to a professional sport. Getting ahead of the competition requires the most cutting-edge and state-of-the-art tools.
- Keep in mind the six key factors of SEO: on-page elements, expertness (or links), copywriting, engagement objects, site architecture and siloing, and spidering.
- The mobile Web is evolving quickly. 3G and open WiFi access enable faster downloads and, thus, richer content. The cost of smart phones and data plans are becoming more manageable as well.
- To see how your site ranks on iPhone searches, use tools including iSearch and Google Mobile App for your iPhone.
- A separate mobile site for your domain is not necessary as the mobile browsing experience improves. The .mobi domain is particularly bad for SEO efforts; .mobi sites require cumbersome development standards and are not universally known by users.
- To ensure that your site displays as intended as new mobile handsets and browsers are released, code your site in clean XHTML code with valid CSS.
- Ten percent of Web traffic in Australia is generated by search engines. Google is the dominant search engine with 83 percent market share.
- A high correlation between the words used on a Web site and the terms used by customers is the best case scenario that signifies effective keyword research.
- When looking for the right keywords to optimize on your site, remember to: build your list from internal as well as external sources; avoid general terms as more targeted terms generate higher ROI; and keep in mind the possibility of a disconnect between what you think people search for and what they actually search for.
- Research your competition to see what keywords they have optimized. Also look for competitors that are using misspellings of your brand; you have protective rights as a brand-owner under Australian law.
Photo by Mr. Imperial via Creative Commons |
Day two is about to ramp up so what are you waiting for? Bounce over to Bruce Clay Australasia’s new blog and find out what’s going down Down Under.