Is typing in “SEO” the same as typing in “search engine optimization“? Not according to the data in AdWords. The queries in the search engine optimization data set are quite different than the data in the SEO data set. This was a bit of a surprise even to me. It turns out that there is much more variable traffic in the search engine optimization data by a 4-to-1 margin over an SEO search. Search engine optimization: 125 million monthly searches. SEO: 30 million monthly searches. The Search Engine Optimization group has 25 categories of behavior. The SEO group has three fewer search behavior categories. For example, there is no traffic for the advertising, business and search engines categories. So, what do these differences mean? I’ll start by comparing the search traffic head-to-head. For example, in this view you will notice that location-based searches are much more prominent in the SEO group, while product development queries are almost … [Read more...] about SEO vs. Search Engine Optimization Queries
Why search engine optimization
Using Scenarios in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Keywords keywords keywords. As SEO and search engine advertising professionals, we live in a sea full of keyword phrases. One of our jobs is to come up with keyword lists and apply them to websites. A search engine advertiser will use a keyword list to determine ad purchases, ad copy, and landing page content, and an SEO professional might use the keyword list to architect a website and generate future content ideas. There are a number of free and paid keyword research tools at our disposal. Of course, as a search usability professional, I use many of these keyword research tools all of the time…but not in the way one might think. However, keyword research tools do not tell me why a web searcher formulated specific queries. I have listened to many colleagues present their reasons for keyword usage. A search engine advertiser's opinion? Well, then I am listening to the mental model of a search engine advertiser, not a web searcher. A search engine optimizer's perspective? Now I am … [Read more...] about Using Scenarios in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Elevator Pitches
At the recent SMX conference, I was in the conference hotel elevator, and a fellow rider asked me what I did for a living. My answer? I told him that it is hard to explain what I do. So drew him a quick diagram, as follows: I then told him that I am a Web developer who makes website content easier to find via the commercial Web search engines, like in the green part of this diagram. However, as you can see in this diagram, I don’t design for search engines only. I also understand what people search for, and what they expect to see on webpages after they click on a link from Google, Yahoo, or Bing. That is quite a mouthful (and an eyeful), isn’t it? As hard as I try, I just can’t seem to explain search engine optimization easily on an elevator, at least not without a diagram. Nevertheless, I have used this diagram for quite some time now, to explain what it is that I do for my client websites. The Perceived Definition of Search Engine Optimization Many people have … [Read more...] about Effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Elevator Pitches
Emotional Design and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Recently, one of my SEO colleagues contacted me to learn how website usability and SEO are related — more than what you can get from online reading. “I’m all for expanding my knowledge and agree this is the best place to focus,” he said. He asked for some books to read, online courses to take, webinars to attend, and so forth. I gave him a partial list as a solid starting point. When I sent him an upcoming webinar list (with descriptions and agendas) that had me excited, he replied, “I looked at these agendas, and I didn’t see anything related to search engines and SEO.” My heart sunk. Smart man…very smart man…stuck inside of a SEO bubble. As SEO professionals, we have conditioned ourselves to believe that if a document (webpage, image, video, webinar, etc.) contains a keyword phrase, then that keyword phrase must somehow describe the document and/or that document’s content. And vice versa—if a document doesn’t … [Read more...] about Emotional Design and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The Financial Justification for Search Engine Optimization
Every business grows by delivering value through products and services that fill a need, solve a problem or lead to a desired goal. To achieve this, your business must first be visible online to your ideal prospects. Enter SEO. Search Engine Optimization helps with this ‘findability’ problem. SEO can ensure that your business ranks high on search engines, attracts the right customers, showcases your value, and boosts profits continuously. No Business Can Ignore SEO Your prospects use the Web to research purchases. When a health-conscious family makes decisions worth $10,000 over the next 5 years based on information from a Google search, you need to be ‘discovered’ by that family – and millions like them in your market. I conceived the term ‘SEOnomics‘ to meld SEO with economics, a process of maximizing profits and generating big business successes through SEO. Effective SEO interweaves technical elements of website optimization with buyer … [Read more...] about The Financial Justification for Search Engine Optimization