In 2006, Stathis Edel founded FindMyCompany.com—a pioneer in the Austin SEO industry. Before that he was an IT Manager, and before that he was a triathlete and military brat. But Stathis has always been a tech guy. He needs to know how things work.

Once he set his sights on figuring out search engine marketing, it was only a matter of time before FindMyCompany.com would become one of the leading SEO companies in Austin and beyond. Now Stathis has found himself in the fortunate position of sharing his experiences and knowledge with interested members of the business community. As it turns out, there’s a lot of them!

Internet Marketing Speaker for Seminars, Luncheons, Events

SEO Speaker Stathis Edel is available for all types of speaking engagements. Over the years he’s led discussions at local business meetups, informal lunches, and large-scale events. Stathis was the primary speaker at the FMC-organized “On Tap for Google” Seminar Series—a recurring event held in Austin at the Alamo Drafthouse.

Schedule Mr. Edel to speak at your event.

Making Informed Decisions

Stathis’ primary mission during these talks is to clear up misinformation swirling around the SEO industry, allowing businesses to make informed decisions on how to spend their marketing dollars. When you’re dealing with a marketing category that’s still so new—and includes such misunderstood subcategories as social media marketing and pay-per-click—it’s absolutely critical to have access to the latest information.

That’s our goal: Make information about SEO understandable to the public and help businesses apply it. Questions?

Here’s what NOT to do…

1.) Buy a ton of links real cheap (don’t buy expensive ones either)

The jig is up. Google doesn’t appreciate people buying links for the sole purpose of boosting their search standing, so they put a stop to it. Or rather, Google won’t stop you from throwing money away on bulk link packages, but they will make sure you don’t get rewarded for it. In fact, if you have any legitimate link cred already built up, adding paid links to the mix will only dilute your site’s overall link juice. Links are still an important part of SEO, but the number of links doesn’t matter nearly as much as quality and relevance.

Alternative: Put good content on your site and make it easy for people to share (‘tweet,’ ‘like’ and ‘+1’ buttons). Contribute to industry forums. Be active on social networks. Etcetera.

2.) Forget to give your website a title

You wouldn’t forget to name your child, would you? A website without a title is like a lost puppy without tags. The title we’re referring to is not the name of your business or the header of your content. No, we’re talking about your official declaration of name and purpose to search engines. We’re talking about a title tag. You can usually find the title tag listed at the top of your internet browser.

Here’s ours:

Alternative: Name it. Your title tag should include your company name along with a few of your most important search terms. This is your single most valuable piece of SEO real estate, so don’t waste it. As always, don’t go overboard. Best practice is to have between 70 and 100 characters in a title tag.

3.) Be clueless about what people search for

Nobody knows what a Mark5 flashpan hotswap dongle is (not even us, and we made it up). Proprietary messaging can be important for selling products but not necessarily for helping people find them. The main goal of SEO is to help new customers find you. These people know what they want, and you have what they want, but they don’t care what you call it. Not yet.

Alternative: Make sure you describe your products and services in plain language on your website. Ask yourself, in laymen’s terms, what is it I sell or do? Or, better yet, how do you describe your business to your parents? Everyone uses Google, so that’s the audience you’re optimizing for.

*Use Google’s search volume tool to get keyword ideas.

4.) Steal content, spam content, hide content

One of the best things you can do on your own to boost website rankings is to regularly refresh page content and/or update your blog. You can go a step further by placing keywords in your content, but be careful—this is where things often get fouled up. For every hundred words of text, you should only mention ONE or TWO keywords. That’s it. Furthermore, they need to be weaved into the text naturally, not obviously tacked on. One of the easiest ways to do this is by putting a headline above each paragraph of text.

Like so:

— — —

Austin SEO Company – Get Yo’ Rank On

What does it take to get you found? FindMyCompany is an Website Marketing company based in Austin, Texas…yada, yada, yada…

— — —

In regards to stealing and hiding content, just don’t do it. If someone else wrote your content or built your website, use Copyscape to verify it’s 100% unique. Hiding content includes using a font size that’s drastically smaller than the rest of your site to save space, or more archaic tactics (which are also frowned upon) such as making your font color the same as your background. Google no like.

5.) Your homepage is all pretty pictures and no meaty text

Minimal design is all the rage these days. A lot of people say they don’t want to “clutter up” their homepage with lines of boring text. Unfortunately, that boring text (along with your title tag) is your best way to tell Google what you’re all about. Sure, Google will index your pictures and videos, but don’t expect to get much search traffic from that alone.

Alternative: Write not boring text. Make your website copy stand out as much as your pictures. Give it spunk. Use keywords, but not too many. The minimum amount of text recommended for a homepage is 250 words.

If only there were a set of tools that would monitor my site for me…

And they should be free…and endorsed by the gatekeepers themselves..and…Hi there, meet Google’s Webmaster Tools. Webmaster Tools is Google’s free utility for monitoring the health of your domain. It will ping you if Google is having trouble crawling your site and will alert you if your site is infected with malware. It can also guide you through some basic optimizations, such as adding a sitemap and stopping certain URLs from being crawled. Although that’s about it from a practical standpoint.

To be clear, Webmaster Tools is a valuable resource for any site owner, but is by no means a replacement for full on search engine marketing. As we know, successful SEO still takes a boatload of hard work.

With that in mind, perhaps a simpler distinction is needed. By putting the user’s experience first—Google users and website users—it’s clear that every SEO practice should be in the service of these users. Our goal should be to make their experiences better. Simple. This is how we define “being good.” Anything that improves the user’s experience, whether from a search engine or website point of view, can be called good. Thus, our SEO motto: Be Good.

Think Long Term

Let’s not turn this into a moral debate. Things that improve a user’s experience are just as easy to identify as those that exist solely for the purpose of SEO. Better yet, the tactics we’re going to call ‘good’ all coincide with Google’s methodology for ranking websites. Furthermore, if you only choose to employ optimization strategies that do good by the user, you are more likely to be immune to sweeping Google updates that aim to devalue websites trying to game their system.

Cheaters Never Win

Good search engine marketing is not about deceiving Google. It’s about clearly and accurately representing to search engines what your site is about and why you are an authority on it—perhaps the authority on it. When you show up at the top of a search for “Austin loft apartments,” the user is rightly going to expect to find an extensive selection of loft-style residences listed on your website.

This might sound obvious, but we all know how frustrating it is when we search for one thing and the website we visit has a loose, if any, connection to what we were originally searching for. Tricking users into visiting a site isn’t a useful strategy for a business or an SEO company. Traffic doesn’t matter unless it results in sales. Bottom line.

But enough preaching—how does all this translate to the real world of website marketing? Well, it’s all about showing Google you are the real deal for whatever it is you do.

Warning: expect to see the word “real” (and its synonyms) a lot.

Follow best and current practices for onpage optimization

We start here because this is one of the few remaining signals that is meant more for search engines than it is for end users. That said, title tags and meta descriptions do show up in search results with your URL. Therefore, making them succinct and relevant not only tells Google what your site is about, but also provides users with a quick synopsis of your content. That’s helpful.

Write original content meant to be read by real people

What difference does it make…nobody’s going to read it anyway? Not true. People will read your website content if it’s interesting and Google will read your website content regardless. Both of them will judge your content on originality, informativeness, and relevance. You shouldn’t have to obsess over SEO keywords, and you certainly don’t want to overdo it (one or two keywords per 100 words of text is recommended). They should naturally appear in your content anyway because they describe what you do.

Maintain real social accounts with actual engagement

Social media is important for two reasons. One: it’s a direct line of communication with people interested in your brand. Two: search engines think it’s important. It won’t work on either level if it’s not a genuine effort. Dormant social accounts are about as useful as stale bread. Stuffing anyone?

Pump up your brand power

This is a hot one. Right now, Google is doing everything in their power to establish the legitimacy and quality of brands. Becoming a top-tier brand is a long term strategy, but there are a few things you can do right away to show Google you’re a respected brand. Step one: make sure you have a Google+ account (personal and business). Step two: link the account to your website following these steps. Step three: be active, get in circles.

Encourage customers to leave feedback where it matters most (on Google)

Google reviews are SEO gold for local businesses. Remind your customers to leave reviews on Google+ first. Incentivize them. Put up “find us on Google” stickers, pass out cards with QR codes that link to your business page, most of all, provide memorable (in a good way) services or products. Put a blatant Google+ link and ‘+1′ button on your homepage.

Generate real news and press by being active in your community

Get out and do something. Start by attending networking events and then expand to hosting them. You should believe in what you do so much that you are dying to tell anyone who will listen. When you come up with a zany stunt or local event, reach out to local news outlets. See if you can get them to do a story or at least write a blurb on your upcoming event. Keep at it.

Earn legit links by demonstrating your value to other websites

Whether you do it by creating infographics, generating news, writing provocative blogs, making silly videos, becoming a contributing member of a online community, or providing an industry resource, you have to show other people why you matter. These organic links are the ones that Google values most.

But aren’t all SEO practices inherently evil?

This is a popular misconception held by SEO skeptics. Google supports search engine optimization when done right. They even have their own SEO guide. SEO is only evil when the intention is to trick search engines or mislead users. That’s why we’re making the distinction clear. Things that hurt a user’s experience are bad. Things that improve it are good. Be Good!

Reach your audience (customers, clients, donors, etc.) easily.

Brand your emails with your company’s logo and design to make them recognizably yours.

Target specific messages to each audience.

Track the effectiveness of your message based on opens, clicks, shares, and more!

Expand your reach with social sharing.

Check out the video about Constant Contact email marketing from our most recent small business seminar:

Discover what an email marketing platform can do for your business.
Sign up for a FREE 60-day Trial of Constant Contact

Email Marketing Details You Can’t Live Without!

Do you have coupons and promotions you want to send to your customers or clients? Do you wish that you could send a monthly newsletter of industry tips and product updates? Do you still use traditional marketing mediums, like post cards and coupon mailers, to communicate?

Communicating vs. Marketing

When email marketing is done properly, you accomplish more than just sending a message to your customer base. Good email marketing initiatives are engaging; they encourage your reader to act: to click to read more about a topic, to donate to your organization, or to attend your company’s upcoming event. If you have information that your customers want or need, email marketing is an efficient platform to deliver this information.

How is an email marketing platform different from Outlook emails?

By definition marketing has to be measurable, and an email marketing platform like Constant Contact gives you the tools to track your emails after they leave your inbox. Because you can’t track anything that happens to your email after you send it through Outlook, it becomes communication that talks at your audience. True marketing engages with your audience and tracks the results. An email marketing platform is marketing, because will track opens, clicks, bounces, and email unsubscribes for any email you send out. This means, you can analyze details regarding what is and is not working and make adjustments to your next email campaign.

A platform like Constant Contact incorporates your design elements and easy-to-use templates, so you can change your emails’ layout and make all of your emails match your branding colors, fonts, and designs. This means your emails will be recognizable as an extension of your brand to your recipients. Because you can sort your recipient lists with an email platform, it ensures your messages are targeted to each different audience: clients, vendors, donors, etc.

It is very difficult to share traditional marketing messages. If you send coupons via snail mail to your customer base, and your customer wants to share the coupon with a friend, they have to remember to bring it the next time they see their friend or add additional postage to mail it to their friend. An email marketing platform makes it easy to share emails that contain an interesting article or a juicy discount coupon. Constant Contact, for example, has incorporated the option for all emails to include a “forward to a friend” button and “social share” icons that allow for easy posting to social media accounts.

FREE 60-day Trial

Sign up for a free trial and see how Constant Contact’s email marketing platform can transform your business!

Log into your Google account.

Search for the business you want to review.

Click on the company name in the list of results to the left of the map.

A pin will appear on the map

Click “More Info” on the pin information in the map.

Click “Write a Review”

A pop-up window will open.

1. Select how you rate the business
2. Write a review
3. Select “Publish”

Congratulations on leaving your first Google+ Local review.

Since you are still signed into Google, you can go back to “Maps” in the top Category bar, and search for more companies to review!

That doesn’t sound like much time, but you’d be surprised just how much information the human brain can process in a few seconds, especially if the information is well organized and to the point. Throw in a powerful visual cue, and you’re on your way. Let’s start with a few landing page basics…

What is a landing page?

First things first: a landing page is any page on a website where visitors START. By default, most new visitors will land on a website’s homepage. However, depending on the different methods you use to generate traffic, such a Pay-Per-Click Advertising, visitors may be sent directly to the URL of a special promotion, a location page, a service page, or any number of other pages with targeted content.

What do they look like?

Most of the time landing pages look like a hybrid homepage/contact page. They feature large graphics, blatant emotional appeals, targeted information, clear call-to-actions, and very basic forms, all appearing above the fold* when possible.

*The fold is the visible portion of a web page upon arrival, before scrolling down.

Here’s a classic example of a landing page:

Large Graphics – Cocktails! – Check
Blatant Emotional Appeal – Money – Check
Targeted Information – Location – Check
Clear Call-to-actions / Basic Form – “Unbeatable Deals” / One Line Form – Double Check

Here’s a more general, universal example:

Embedding video on a landing page is a good way to pack more information into limited space. Now how does all this apply to you?

Do you need landing pages?

That is a good question. Determining if you need a landing page or just regular subpages on your website depends on whether you have control over the traffic to your website. If you are running a Pay-Per-Click campaign on Google Adwords, for example, then you are able to choose the “Destination URLs” of your ads. This would make your site a great candidate for landing pages.

The more targeted your ads are, and the more targeted your landing pages are, the more effective your ads will be. If every ad goes to your general homepage, you’ll likely miss out on conversions, because visitors will have to hunt around for what they were looking for. In the process, they may lose interest.

The same is true with any Internet marketing campaign: social media, display ads on other websites, email marketing. Anything that allows you to pick the page where traffic arrives will be much more effective if you have targeted landing pages.

Quick Landing Page Tips

Be Specific – The whole point of having a landing page is so you can make a targeted appeal. You know how the visitor got to your site; you know what the ad said, so make sure the content of the ad is immediately backed up by what they see on the page.

Keep it Simple – Blank space on a landing page is your friend. The more space you leave empty, the more your headline, form, and graphics will stand out.

Write a Spectacular Headline – Whether it’s funny or a deal that’s too good to pass up or just damn catchy (Got Milk?), you only have a few words to grab the visitors’ attention. Try to do it in one line.

Offer a Deal – The deal may be part of the headline or it may be attached to the form. Either way, make it something that encourages them to take action immediately.

Keep the Form Short – Only have visitors fill out one line, two lines max. So many conversions are lost to long or invasive forms. Let submitting the form be a compulsive activity, something a visitor can complete without even thinking about it.

Bold Contact Info – Maybe you don’t need visitors to submit a form. Get them on the line right now; make your phone number big, bold and unmissable.

Monitor Effectiveness in Analytics – If you have multiple landing pages, site analytics is a good way to gauge what’s working. Experiment with a few different landing page formats. Compare bounce rates and rate of conversions, and update pages accordingly.

The homepage will always be your most commonly landed upon page

Not all of these tactics apply to your homepage, but many of them, such as writing an awesome headline and implementing a simple form, definitely do. Every page can be optimized to encourage visitors to complete an action. That’s what we call “Conversion Science,” which is a topic for another post.

Resolution #1: Get in Shape

I know everyone feels they could stand to lose a few pounds after the holidays. You may also want to think about trimming the fat from your website’s HTML belly. All that extraneous code can slow your website down and earn your website dismissive looks from search engines. A good place to start is with W3C Validation, which will check the markup on your website’s HTML documents, and work from there. Search engines will reward you for having clean code.

Part of getting your website in shape for 2013 will mean looking good on all screen sizes. A recent Google survey found that 72% of mobile users want websites to be mobile-friendly. That means conforming to desktops, laptops, all shapes of smartphones, tablets, and even refrigerators if they have Internet browsers on them.

There are generally three options for doing this:

1. Responsive design – With this, your website content reshapes to fit screen size.

2. Mobile/tablet version of my site – If you’re a WordPress site like me, you might want to try WP Touch, a free WordPress plugin that helps build a mobile version of your site.

3. Platform specific apps – Remember, you’ll have to develop separate apps for iOS, Android, and probably Windows Phone 8 once it gets more users.

Resolution #2: Be Social

I’ve never met a shy website; most were made to be found and viewed and shared. As professionals, we all just want our sites to be found by the people who like us for what we offer. Of course, how can we expect that to happen if we don’t get out there and make some new friends? After all, friends share information with other friends.

If your website’s content, message, and/or product make enough friends, the next thing you know, your website is crawling with visitors you’ve never even met before. How exciting! The best way to get these new friends is by offering them genuinely valuable and relevant content on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Be an authority on your industry. Be creative. Try something new. The further you stick your neck out into the social media realm, the greater the rewards can be.

How am I doing?

Resolution #3: Travel More (even locally)

Do you ever feel like your website spends most of its time hiding out in the remote corners of the Internet? If so, it’s time for your site to make itself known in some of the more common internet circles. One of your first orders of business should be to firmly establish your local presence. Localization continues to grow in importance in ranking your website, and if you want to get more internet exposure, it only makes sense to start in the places you already do business, where some neighbors already know your name.

You have probably seen those local listings at the top of Google’s search results, and the good news is, all you need to do to start localizing is create a Google+ Local Listing and get people to leave reviews. That doesn’t sound too difficult, right?

Resolution #4: Get Educated

As internet marketers, we’ve all got some serious soul searching to do in 2013. It’s time to think long and hard about our websites’ place in the Search Engine Universe and how we got there. To get an answer to some of internet marketing’s bigger questions will require research and self education.

This will require learning more about how ranking algorithms work and why certain websites show up for certain searches as well as what ranking changes are projected for the future. Staying on top of search engine optimization and marketing best practices takes a lot of work and the rules change constantly. The good news is there are a lot of resources out there, including our SEO blog and Google’s Blog.

Resolution #5: Drop Bad Habits

Maybe we all aren’t quite ready to give up ice cream and celebrity gossip sites, but what you should be ready for is to quit those bad habits that directly affect your reputation, perceived authority and rankings on the Internet. Repeat after me:

~I will not post duplicate content, and I will regularly use Copyscape to make sure other people aren’t stealing my content.

~I will not spam my website with SEO keywords. I will write new content with no more than 2 or 3 keywords for every hundred words of text.

Okay, I think we all deserve some Cherry Garcia after that! Seriously, though, search engines are cracking down on these lazy SEO tactics more and more every day. Your website will be penalized for not playing the game by the rules. It may take some work to update any of these things you do not currently do, but the good news is these three rules are really easy to follow once you implement them as long-term strategies.

Resolution #6: Save Money

Having a professional-looking website doesn’t mean your company is made of money. We’re not all GoDaddy. I certainly can’t afford the reported 3.8 million dollars it takes to get an ad played during this year’s Super Bowl. I’m also not about to blow my entire marketing budget on a giant billboard or late-night radio spot.

I’m going to put my hard-earned marketing cash towards something I’ve already noticed bringing me high quality traffic. I plan to invest in increasing my traffic from search engines. Maybe this is starting a PPC campaign and spending a little time optimizing the spend and landing pages or spending some time/money drafting fresh content with balanced keyword saturation and the voice of your brand. The point is if your current efforts bring in some website traffic, maximizing these efforts will also maximize your traffic. Can’t beat that!

We all have room to grow, things we can do better. Those are all my resolutions for 2013 and some ways you can follow them with me. Wish me luck! I’ll do the same for you. Happy New Year!

@ SXSW Interactive 2013

FindMyCompany is assembling the sharpest GOOGLE MEN (and WOMEN) from all over the country for this year’s SXSW Interactive Festival. In addition to cocktails, enigmatic compliments, and power trips, our SXSW booth will be doling out advice on how to market your business online. Come say hello and meet the ‘GOO MEN’ of SEO.

FMC’s GOO MEN at SXSW 2013

PREMIERE:  March 8th – 12th at the SXSW 2013 Interactive Festival (stay tuned for full schedule)

CAST:  All the FMC Regulars plus guest stars from leading SEO companies in the US

BONUS FEATURES: Retweet @findmycompany SXSW to be entered in our iPad drawing

Stay Tuned…

Follow@FindMyCompany on Twitter and like the FMC Facebook for event updates leading up to the festival.

 
Social media is a living, breathing thing. Like a puppy it begs for your constant attention. It just won’t stop staring up at you with those sad, unread-notification eyes. So if you’re going to spend your personal time playing with Facebook and Twitter for business, you’d better be happy with what you’re already getting back in return. Don’t expect your pet to become the next Air Bud overnight.
 
That said, there are a few social media tweaks that are, without question, worth your time. Like a good leash or an gnarled tennis ball, these are ONE-TIME things you can do to your social accounts that will increase your social signal immediately.
 

It’s Alive!

 
Your social media existence depends on four vital organs: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn. We’re not ranking these in order of importance, or suggesting which ones should get the most attention, we’re simply saying that you need ALL FOUR in order for your social monster to survive. If you don’t have all of them—yes, including LinkedIn—get them now.
 

Shots / Grooming

 
If you want search engines and users to take notice of your social accounts, then you better make sure they’re all put together.
 
-Fill out every field
-Link each one back to your homepage
-Add media: pictures and video
-Share business page on personal profiles to get the ball rolling
 
This is especially important for Google+ business pages. Google promotes pages that have pictures and videos, because it creates a richer experience for users. While you’re at it, make ‘em look pretty; doll ‘em up a little bit. A fun cover photo on Facebook or custom background on Twitter may be the only difference between engagement and a swift exit.
 
With the obvious ones out of the way, let’s get down to specifics…
 

Get 3 Anchor-tagged Backlinks from a High PR Domain – LinkedIn

 
You’ve probably heard us SEO-types going on about backlinks—the various kinds, why they’re important to SEO, and on—so we’ll spare you the explanation on why you need them. You just do.
 
What’s cool about this tip is that you can get THREE high-value backlinks from LinkedIn, and on top of that, you can target them to specific keywords (anchor-tagging), directly impacting your SEO.
 
Add up to three backlinks from LinkedIn by following these steps:
 
1.) Log in to your LinkedIn account
2.) Select “edit profile’
3.) Under Additional Info click ‘Add Websites’
 

 
4.) Select ‘Other’ from the drop down menu
 

 
5.) A ‘Website Title’ box will appear – This is your anchor-tag. Use a keyword.
6.) Add site URL
7.) Add two more links to subpages (Blog, Services)
 
Bonus Tip: Get all your employees to connect with the business profile, and have them add the business as one of their websites.
 

Go ahead and promote a story on Facebook…just this once.

 
It turns out Facebook is a business after all. Get this: They will actually let users PAY to have more people see their cat pictures, political rants, or in the case of a business, they’ll let you pay to promote a special you’ve started offering.
 
Here’s how to do it:
 
Click ‘Promote’ below any post:
 

(my cat!)
 
Pricing will vary, but you shouldn’t have to pay more than $10. If you promote a post from a business page, Facebook will let you set the budget. Don’t go crazy here. $10 or less is fine for this test.
 
The point is to see if you notice a spike in views, likes, comments, or shares for the promoted post. If you do, it may be worth doing periodically when you have something exciting to share.
 

(Apparently my kitty is worth one dollar and ten cents of promotion!)
 

What about Promoting Tweets?

 
Twitter is still rolling out it’s advertiser platforms. Right now, anyone can sign up for a Promoted Account, which according to Twitter, “is featured in search results and within the Who To Follow section. Who To Follow is Twitter’s account recommendation engine and identifies similar accounts and followers to help users discover new businesses, content, and people on Twitter.”
 
The catch: It’s very expensive, especially when compared with promoting a single post on Facebook
 

 
We recommend holding off on that kind of investment until there is more concrete data available on the effectiveness (if any) of this type of advertising.
 
Twitter Tip: Include a more specific search keyword in your Twitter bio. Most Twitter profiles describe the business in very general terms. You will get more bang for your (free) buck by promoting a specialized keyword in your Twitter profile. But as always, Don’t Spam!
 

Link Your Website to Your Google+ Page

 
There is only one sure-fire way to tell Google that a particular Google+ page should be associated with a website, and that’s by linking to it. Google recommends adding this line of code somewhere on your homepage—often the footer is a good place:
 
Find us on Google+ (Update the link with your page info.)
 
Also make sure your Google+ page is updated with your website URL (same with all of your social accounts).
 
Bonus Tip: Verify your business on Google+ by filling out this form.
 

So I don’t need anyone managing my social media after all?

 
Not so fast… Like we said, these are ONE-TIME updates to boost your social signal. They should be done right away, because they will make a difference. They alert search engines of your presence, but someone still needs to tell the rest of the world—the billion-plus social users—that you’re there.
 
Running an effective social media campaign is a lot like managing an SEO campaign; it takes time and manpower. Whether you have the resources to do it internally, or you want to get help from a Internet Marketing company, it’s going to take a lot of work.